


4 on 








iJQQK. , tarings / ^/ 

CJDJE^fRIGHT DEPOSm 



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Minnesota's State Flag 
(By courtesy of the Secretary of State of Minnesota) 



OUR MINNESOTA 

A HISTORY FOR CHILDREN 



BY 



HESTER McLEAN POLLOCK 

TEACHER OF 

HISTORY" AND CIVICS IN THE SAINT PAUL HIGH SCHOOLS 

MEMBER OF 

THE MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 




NEW YORK 

E. P. BUTTON & COMPANY 

681 FIFTH AVENUE 



.T7J 



Copyright, is>i7 

BY 

E. P. BUTTON & COMPANY 



APR "4 1917 

Printed in the United States of America 



©aA457842 



3^ 







This Little Book on 
OUR STATE 

IS SINCERELY AND AFFECTIONATELY 
DEDICATED TO 

MY CHILDREN OF "CENTRAL" 

AND TO THEIR CHILDREN 



PREFACE 

In giving to the public this little book on the 
History of Minnesota, the author makes no claim 
that much is presented in the way of new material, 
but hopes that the fact that it is written for chil- 
dren will make it possible, as it has not been before, 
for the children of Minnesota to learn the history 
of her past and hence to love it. 

While many things are necessarily omitted, not 
only for lack of space, but also because they are 
not of particular interest to children, the aim 
throughout the work is accuracy. The sotirces 
which have been used are to be found largely in 
the diaries and papers of the Minnesota Historical 
Society, reliance put largely upon the statements 
of those who helped to make the history here related. 

The author acknowledges, most gratefully, the 
help and encouragement received from the His- 
torical Society of Minnesota, the Forestry Depart- 
ment, Minnesota Department of Education, and 
also her obligation to the Department of State for 
the use of valuable material. 

Thanks are due to T. E. Rickard, G. P. Putnam's 
Sons, Miss Bessie Twigg, and Hanford Gordon for 
the use of copyrighted material. 

vii 



viii Preface 

The author wishes to acknowledge her indebted- 
ness to the late James J. Hill for valuable material 
in the chapter on transportation; and to Maj. 
R. I. Holcombe for his assistance in regard to the 
Indian massacres; and she cannot too fully express 
her gratitude to Mr. Warren Upham, the learned 
archeologist of the State of Minnesota, for his 
helpfulness in placing material at her disposal, as 
well as for his interest in everything concerning the 
book. 

She wishes particularly to thank Miss Boody and 
her helpers for their zeal and untiring loyalty in 
typing the entire manuscript. 

We are apt to lay much stress upon the necessity 
for teaching the responsibilities of citizenship, but 
it is really more important that we plant in the 
hearts of children a love for the place where they 
live, so that the care and responsibility for it will 
grow as a natural result. 

If anything written here shall make the children 
of Minnesota love their State more, and feel more 
deeply the heritage which is theirs and the duty 
which they owe to this Commonwealth, the book 
will have attained its object. 

Hester M. Pollock. 

St. Faul, July, 19 16. 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I. — Minnesota, Sky-ey Water 



II. — The First Minnesotan 
III. — The Red Man's World 
IV. — What the Red Man Left us 

V. — How WE Gained the Land 

From the White Men. 
Treaties with the Indians. 



I 

10 

46 
56 



VI. — The First White Man . . 79 

Explorers. 
Missions. 

VII. — Minnesota, The Gopher State 112 

VIII. — Early Days .... 127 

Fort Snelling. 
Old Settlers. 
Pioneer Minnesota. 

IX. — The Gift of the Forests . .161 

X. — Watch us Grow . . . 181 

XI. — Minnesota, The Bread and 

Butter State . . .191 

ix 



X Contents 

CHAPTER PAGE 

XII. — The Sad Story .... 204 

War against Slavery. 
Indian Outbreaks. 

XIII. — Getting from Place to Place . 233 

XIV. — The Father of Waters and Ten 

Thousand Lakes . . . 259 

XV. — Troublous Times . . . 277 

XVI. — How THE State Cares for her 

Children .... 285 

Education. 
Protection. 

XVII. — The Treasures of the Earth . 300 

Mines. 
Stones. 

XVIII. — Some Legacies . . . .312 

Landmarks. 
Great Men. 
The Historical Society. 

XIX. — Minnesota, the Star of the 

North ..... 332 

Today and Tomorrow. 

Governors of Minnesota . . . 356 

Dates to Remember .... 357 

Index 359 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

Minnesota's State Flag. . Frontispiece 

Our State Flower, the Moccasin Flower 

Maiden Rock or Lovers' Leap, Lake 
Pepin 

Minnehaha Falls .... 

The Treaty of Traverse des Sioux, 1851 

Father Galtier's Chapel of St. Paul 

Joe Rolette (Tailpiece) . 

A Dog Train (Tailpiece) 

Old Guard House, Fort Snelling . 

Henry Mower Rice 

Franklin Steele ' . . : . 

Alexander Ramsey. 

Mississippi River Ferry at Fort Snelling, 
1865 

Central House, where the first Legis- 
lature MET 

Firebreak in Koochiching County . 

xi 



PAGE 

xiii "^ 

108 ^ 

iii^ 

126^ 

133^ 
141^ 
141^ 

152- 
154 

154-- 

177- 



xii Illustrations 

Old Betz, the Berry Picker . 

**In Sunday Best," Pioneer Days . 

Fourth Minnesota Entering Vicksburg 

Interior of Fort Ridgely, Built in 1856 

Exterior View of Fort Ridgely . 

Charles E. Flandrau 

Red River Ox Cart {Tailpiece) 

*'The Infant Mississippi," Itasca Park 

Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul 

Sibley House, Built in 1835 . 

Henry Hastings Sibley . 

State Capitol, St. Paul 



PAGE 
194 

194 

204 

217 

217 

231 

256 

271 

285 

312 

312 

332 




Our State Flower. The Moccasin Flower 
(By courtesy of the Secretary of State of Minnesota) 



THE MOCCASIN FLOWER 

Far wandering from a foreign shore, 

I stand amid the silent places, 
And strive to people, as of yore, 

These woods with vanished dusky races, 
Till, back from days that are no more. 

They rise from out the earth's embraces. 

But here did pixies ever dwell? 

(I muse on childhood's well-loved story) 
What evidence is left to tell 

An alien of their elfin glory? 
When, lo! on this my charmed eyes fell — 

A radiance in a forest hoary. 

Quaint, curious shoelet that I find, 

In dainty pink, in daintier yellow, 
*Tis very sure thou wert designed 

By pix for fairy Cinderella; 
Thou'rt much more suited, to my mind, 

Than boot of buckskin or prunella. 

And did she dance unto the dawn, 

That night when Hiawatha wedded. 
And, hurrying homeward through the dawn. 

When all good souls were safely bedded, 
Ne'er miss you till, alas! you'd gone. 

Nor mind the spot where you were shedded? 

She sleepeth yet. Who knows the rest? 

Some day the prince, his elf horn bringing. 
May find the object of his quest 

And wake her with its joyous ringing. 
Then, hand-in-hand, into the West 

They two will fare forth, loving, singing. 

B. R. T. 
xiii 



OUR MINNESOTA 



Our Minnesota 



CHAPTER I 

MINNESOTA, SKY-EY WATER 

Minnesota, "Sky-tinted water," so the Sioux 
Indians called it, and we have never been able to 
find a better or more beautiful name. The word 
Minne-so-tah describes the queer milky appearance 
of the water when, in the early springtime, it rises 
high and, lashing against its banks, wears away the 
clay which falls in and makes it turbid-looking. 
The name was given first to the river from which 
the State was later named. If you want to know 
what it really means, some day when you are going 
by a brook or a lake let a handful of dirt slide 
gently and softly in ; or let a few drops of milk fall 
into a glass of water, and there' you get the same 
lovely, mysterious, cloudy effect which one sees 
on a summer day all over our beautiful State, 
spread with lakes. The way the water looks with 



2 Our Minnesota 

the clouds in the blue sky, mirrored back, that is 
the best of all, for if there's any such thing as a 
"sky tint'* we show it reflected in the thousands of 
lakes that are scattered all over Minnesota's surface. 
' Our wonderful State is eighty-four thousand 
square miles in size or fifty-three millions of acres, 
and if it were all cut up into farms it would give 
each person living in the State a farm of almost 
thirty acres. It is nearly half as large as the whole 
of Sweden and more than half the size of Norway, 
while if England were put into our State there 
would be a great edge left over all the way around. 
It is about one fortieth the size of the United 
States, although it is only one of the forty-eight 
States, and of them all there are only nine larger. 
One fifteenth of the whole State is made up of water 
— lakes and rivers. From north to south it is 
three hundred and eighty miles; from east to west 
in its widest part it is three hundred and forty-six 
miles, and one might ride in a railroad train from 
north to south all day long, and from east to west 
all night long, and never leave the State. Lake 
Alexander near the city of Brainerd is almost exactly 
in the center of Minnesota. 

If you were standing on the highest ridge in the 
State and could see the ocean, if it were not too 
far off, you would be two thousand and two hun- 
dred feet above it. The lowest part of the State 



Minnesota, Sky-ey Water 3 

is six hundred and two feet above the sea on the 
shore of Lake Superior, less than twenty miles 
away from the highest point on the Misquah Hills 
northeast of the Mesabi Range, or Giant Hills as 
the Indians called them. 

The United States has a surface of two ridges and 
a central plain, and Minnesota is in the center of 
that plain. In fact it is the very central spot of 
North America. 

The western part of our State is low and rolling, 
almost flat, unless you are walking on it, when you 
find that you really go up and down, because the 
surface is in waves like the ocean, and we always 
speak of it as the rolling prairie. This great plain, 
as we call the prairie land, is lowest along the Red 
River, on the western boundary. 

In the southeast we find bluffs, from two hundred 
to six hundred feet high, and along the north 
shore of Lake Superior, great headlands of frowning 
rock which rise above the lake, and here the water 
has dashed for hundreds of years, cutting out caves 
and little islands along the edges, making it one of 
the loveliest spots in nature. 

The rivers of Minnesota flow in three different 
directions. Half of all the water flows out through 
the Mississippi, and from rivers which flow into it, 
south, past all the center of the United States, into 
the Gulf of Mexico. Northern and northeastern 



4 Our Minnesota 

streams flow into Lake Superior and so on, down 
through the St. Lawrence to the Atlantic Ocean. 
Red River, on our western boundary, and Rainy- 
River on the north flow north into Lake Winnipeg 
and on up through many lakes and rivers until they 
reach Hudson Bay, way up in Canada on the way 
to the north pole. 

Red Lake, which includes four hundred and forty 
square miles, is the largest lake inside of any State 
in the Union. Mille Lac and Leech Lake and 
Vermilion are very large, as you will see by look- 
ing at the map. Winnibigoshish is almost as big 
as its name sounds. There are ten thousand of 
these lakes in Minnesota, all of them beautiful, 
and most of them swarming with fish of many 
kinds. 

These lakes and rivers, which we love so much, 
were loved, too, by the Indian who found them 
such an easy way to get from place to place. Hun- 
dreds of years before the White Man came here, 
the graceful canoes of the Red Man traveled up 
and down these waterways, sometimes shooting 
the rapids or falls going down, but usually carried 
around them, and these "portages" then made 
were the first real roads of Minnesota. 

Along the edges of the lakes grew the wild rice, 
which was the food of the Indian and made these 
shores picnic grounds where the wild ducks and 



Minnesota, Sky-ey Water 5 

geese used to come regularly when they were 
driven down by the cold of the north, and where 
they stayed until the snow came, and lakes and 
rivers were frozen up. So you see the same thing 
which attracted the Indian attracted the birds, and 
in this way the Indian gained a great deal of his 
food. 

Today most of the Indians are gone and only a 
few of the wild fowl come here to feed, but the wild 
rice still grows year by year on the edges of the 
lakes, which are inviting as ever, and where we 
love to go in the summer. They attract thousands 
of people from other places where there are no 
such beauty spots and they spend the summer here 
rejoicing in the cool winds which blow across the 
waters. 

Can you realize what it would mean to live in a 
place where you couldn't swim, or skate, or row, or 
paddle, or skip stones, or wade excepting in a tank 
inside of a building? Well, these pleasures are 
especially yours because you live where you 
do. 

Everywhere in Minnesota where there aren't 
lakes and excepting on the rolling prairie, were 
once deep forests, where many kinds of trees and 
shrubs grew, and along their edges rare flowers 
of all sorts, because right here we are between 
the northern growth — which is different from 



6 Our Minnesota 

the temperate — and the temperate growth, so we 
get the plants and trees which live in both 
climates. 

I could never tell you all the kinds of trees we 
have in Minnesota, because that would take another 
book, but we must speak about a few, and then you 
can see how many of them you know. 

Of evergreens, in the north there are pines, white 
spruce, and fir, and in the swamps, tamarack, black 
spruce, and white cedar; all beautiful in winter as 
well as summer, whether their dark green needles 
show against the lighter green of the other trees, 
or whether they stand up grand and stately under 
a burden of pure white snow. We find in the 
central and southern part of the State hardwoods 
which are so useful; hard maples from which the 
Indians took the sap to make the maple sugar; 
basswood or linden which bears such sweet flowers 
about the Fourth of July; great elms ("slippery 
elm") and red oak. 

In the southeast are black oak, black walnut, 
which is suitable for furniture, and shell-bark 
hickory, so hard and durable that it is more useful 
than any other kind of wood for axe handles and 
other things which need strong fiber. Along the 
rivers are tall cottonwood and graceful poplar, box 
elder and white elm. The wild fruit trees are : plum, 
crabapple, and black cherry. 



Minnesota, Sky-ey Water 7 

Scattered through the woods, fringing their 
edges and bordering the lakes, are many shrubs 
and vines, among them prickly ash, smooth sumac, 
frost grape, Virginia creeper, bittersweet, red and 
black raspberries, gooseberry, blackcurrant, cornel, 
wolfberry, honeysuckle, elder, viburnum, and 
hazelnut. 

In the woods and dotting the prairies in the spring- 
time and all through the summer until late autumn 
covers them with white snow are the flowers. 
Early come the pasque flower which is the very 
first, violets of many kinds, phlox, spiderwort, and 
roses. Later we have clover, which is useful as 
well as pretty, harebell, gentian, which is very rare, 
larkspur, and evening primrose of pale yellow, blaz- 
ing star and false indigo, and in the early autumn 
sunflower, vetch, aster, gerardia, and many kinds 
of goldenrod. These are only a few of the many 
flowers in Minnesota. 

One of the early explorers tells us in his diary that 
every part of this region "is filled with trees, 
bending under loads of fruit — plums, grapes, and 
apples. The meadow is covered with hops and 
many vegetables and the ground full of useful 
roots, anjelica and groundnuts." We read too of 
wild potatoes and artichokes. 

In the early days oiu: woods were the homes of 
wild animals — bear, deer, and antelope — and the 



8 Our Minnesota 

prairies were covered with feeding herds of huge 
buffalo or bison. 

The climate of Minnesota is considered very 
healthful and the air is so dry that the extreme 
cold is not felt as it would be if it were damper, 
and is so fresh and pure that it makes people active, 
so there is no excuse for laziness here. 

Now it is very interesting to us, and it is going 
to be the purpose of our book to show how the 
White Man has used the lakes and forests; how 
he has hunted the animals, sold the fur, and driven 
off the herds from the prairies so that he might 
plant great fields of grain to feed the world; how 
he has changed the waterfalls into power and the 
rivers into useful trade routes ; how he has covered 
the parts of the State that were hard to get at, with 
railroads ; how after he cut the forests off the great 
ridges, underneath the earth he found such treas- 
ures of mineral wealth as no other place in the 
world has discovered. So today instead of great 
prairies with roving bands of Indians and herds of 
great wild beasts, instead of magnificent dense 
forests sheltering every sort of little animal life, 
and quiet lakes where the sun rose and set only on 
the timid birds and here and there an Indian 
family; and in place of the great rivers flowing 
northward, eastward, or westward bearing only now 
and then an Indian canoe, we have many cities 



Minnesota, Sky-ey Water 9 

where hundreds of thousands of people find homes 
and work. 

Thousands of miles of railroad carry food and 
clothing and shelter throughout our country; our 
great forests are turned into homes and warmth 
and furnishings for the people of many States; and 
our lakes give health and rest to the people tired 
of working, so they may go back to their work 
stronger and better for them; our mines are turn- 
ing out iron for great furnaces, rails and engines to 
carry man where he would go and to give him what 
he needs. Today we hear the noise of the ceaseless 
wheels of industry instead of the sounds of nature, 
and see the smoke of factories and furnaces instead 
of camp fires. 

So we shall look at what we have done in this 
Minnesota of ours and see whether we have done 
it well, and whether it has been wise to change 
"Minnesota, Sky-ey Water," into "Minnesota, the 
North Star State." 



CHAPTER II 

THE FIRST MINNESOTAN 

The first people who were in our beloved State 
were not white like most of us, nor black like a 
few of us, for the ancestors of all the white people 
came from Europe and the ancestors of all the 
black people from Africa. The people who really 
owned this country were not our relatives at all 
but the so-called Indian or "red man," who isn't 
red at all but sort of copper color, some of them 
like dull tarnished metal and others like highly 
polished bronze. 

These people are called Indians all over America 
because when Columbus, the first man from Europe 
to write about them, saw them he thought he had 
gotten to India, the place he was looking for. For 
many years afterward, people thought that the 
whole of America was a mere strip of land not 
nearly so wide as Minnesota, instead of a vast 
country almost three thousand miles wide, and if 
their belief had been true, we shouldn't have had 
any Minnesota at all. 

People don't agree as to the way these Indians 

10 



p The First Minnesotan ii 

came to Minnesota. Some think they came from 
the east and others from the west, while a few 
believe that they came down from the north, but 
at any rate here they are. The first whites came 
into this far western land more than a hundred 
years after Columbus had lived and died, and we 
do know that all the white people came from the 
east and south, as everybody who came from 
Europe had settled along the Atlantic shore, or on 
the edges of the Gulf of Mexico. 

Our Minnesota Indians were like all the other 
Indians in the United States in some things and 
different from any others in some things, enough 
alike so that we are sure that once, ages ago, they 
were the same people and perhaps the same as 
the Japanese and the Filipinos and the Eskimos. 

They were all wild, roving, uncivilized, without 
education, and the ones in Minnesota were es- 
pecially fierce and revengeful. Perhaps they had 
been made so by sad things long before we ever 
knew them. Losing to the white men their homes 
and the beautiful lakes and valleys which they 
loved so well, didn't make them any happier ! 

There were two families of Indians in what is 
today Minnesota and the Mississippi Valley; one, 
called by the French the ''People of the Lakes," 
called themselves the Dakotas, which means a 
union of many, like our own **E Pluribus Unum. " 



12 Our Minnesota 

History gives many a story of people standing 
alone against their enemies and failing, then unit- 
ing for strength against a foe, as did these Indians. 
This foe was probably the Ojibwa or Ojibway, 
which we call Chippewa, of whom we shall speak 
later. 

The first Indians are commonly called Sioux, a 
nickname given by the traders for a much longer one, 
Nadowaysioux. The Chippewas always called 
them this name, which means ''hated enemy," 
just as the Greeks called their foes "barbarians," 
which meant not able to talk Greek, and so the 
word barbarian today has come to mean uneducated 
or not civilized. The Sioux, as we shall call them, 
lived very early about Mille Lac, which they called 
Spirit Lake because they believed that the Great 
Spirit protected them there. They spread all over 
what is now western and southern Minnesota and 
built the mounds which are scattered here and 
there along the Mississippi Valley. They wandered 
over the country, gathering berries in the summer, 
wild rice in the late autumn, and had plenty of 
game and fish from the woods and lakes, around 
which there were no other people than themselves, 
and in November the whole tribe went on a yearly 
buffalo hunt to get meat for the winter. The 
children had no school; early they learned to use 
bows and arrows ; always heard of war and hunting 



The First Minnesotan 13 

until they thought they were the only things in 
the world for a man to learn. At sixteen a boy had 
often made his war-club, gone on the war-path 
and destroyed things, instead of learning how to 
make the useful and helpful things that you do to- 
day. The little girls learned to weave clothing for 
their fathers and brothers and to make beadwork 
for decorating the "braves," as they called their 
best fighters. 

It all sounds very pleasant: no long hours of 
school, every day like Saturday or vacation, and 
no lessons to study, but they had no settled homes, 
no way to keep clean, no clean clothes, no books, 
not even moving pictures. 

The tee-pees, or tepees, which were their houses, the 
women, or squaws, carried from place to place, on 
long marches lasting often many days. For they 
had no street cars nor even streets, but walked 
up and down through the forests and over the high 
hills, until they found a place with food where 
they would settle for a little while. The squaw 
would cut poles about ten feet long; fasten them 
together at the top, and cover them with skins 
sewed together. One of these poles she planted 
firmly in the ground; then the others were spread 
around, the loose ends making a circle, the whole 
covered with the skins. A fire was built in the 
middle and over it swung a pot or kettle around 



14 Our Minnesota 

which they all sat and out of which the squaw 
ladled their food. They had no dishes, nor knives 
and forks, nor table, and if the men had killed 
an animal they had a good meal; if not, a poor one, 
for they had no stores in which to buy things. 

In the summer time they ate and lived almost 
entirely out of doors, but in the winter time inside 
the tepee, which had no windows, and where they 
had no lights but the fire. After the big game 
gave out in Minnesota, the Indians often covered 
their tepees with bark instead of skins. 

Life in an Indian village couldn't have been very 
pleasant. It was dirty, untidy, with no stores, 
no lights, no churches — nothing was sweet or clean 
or wholesome. The Sioux had no regular time for 
sleep or for eating, and while they often feasted for 
days at a time, and nights at a time, they were 
often cold and hungry. 

In the summer the men wore shirts and trousers 
and leggings of buckskin, often fringed and beau- 
tifully decorated by the squaws, and after the 
traders came they dressed in gay blankets. They 
painted their faces and clothes from dyes which 
they made themselves, and wore ornaments of 
shells, teeth, feathers, and anything glittering or un- 
usual. They called all their ornaments "wampum," 
and used them instead of money whenever they 
wanted to trade. 



The First Minnesotan 15 

The Dakota Dandy was as proud of his clothes 
as any young man that you now meet on the street 
wearing a suit in the latest fashion. 

The full habit of the Dakota chief Wanotah 
consisted of: "A cloak or mantle of white, dressed 
buffalo skin covered with tufts of owls' feathers and 
the colored plumage of birds. This was the famous 
'feather blanket' or mantle. He wore a splendid 
necklace of fully sixty glassy bears' claws; leggings, 
jacket, and moccasins of white skins, much deco- 
rated with human hair and embroidered in a 
pattern of porcupine quills. In his hair were nine 
painted sticks fastened with red cloth, to show the 
number of gunshot wounds he had received. Two 
braids of hair fell forward over his face, which was 
painted brilliant with vermilion. He carried a 
huge turkey-feather fan, which he waved in a dig- 
nified way. His son wore a great bonnet of 
war eagle feathers, which reached way below his 
knees in the back. The dress and cape of white 
ermine skins were much too large, as the suit had 
been made for his father." 

In order to honor a guest, the tribe always 
gave a dance. The braves were all dressed in 
their finest and wore all kinds of queer ornaments. 
At a dance once given to a pioneer one of them 
had an open paper of pins fastened to his head- 
dress. 



i6 Our Minnesota 

The braves began the dance by stooping and 
running forward a few paces, singing in a low tone 
which gradually rose and ended with a shrill yell, 
then stopped and began all over again. This was 
rather ridiculous, but the song would have made 
one decidedly uncomfortable if he had heard it 
when he was alone and not sure of the friendliness of 
the Indians. 

The Indians were always very fond of games. 
The most interesting one, called Ta-kap-si-ka-pi, 
the Sioux pla3^ed on a prairie near the Mississippi 
River, and the Canadian French liked it so well 
that they learned it too, and called it "la crosse." 
So the place was named that, from the game, and 
is now the town of LaCrosse, where they used to 
ship a great deal of lumber down the Mississippi 
River. The game of la crosse was a good deal like 
hockey or football, only it was played with a 
long stick curved at the end, with a net in the 
curve, somewhat like a small tennis racket with 
a long handle. The players were divided into 
two sides and tried to get the ball into the opposite 
goal. The French played the game with ten or 
twelve on a side, but the Indians had a whole band 
or camp as rivals. When they could no longer 
play at LaCrosse they used the prairie which is 
now near St. Peter. 

The Indians always played all their games with 



The First Minnesotan 17 

stakes, not just for the fun of it, and the stake- 
holder was a very important man. He took his 
place on his horse on one side and an Indian would 
come up and offer his pony as his stake. Pretty 
soon another Indian would bring up a pony to 
play against this one and if they were of equal 
value it was all right, but sometimes four or five 
would be offered before one was taken. They put 
up everything they had, feathers, bows and ar- 
rows, and sometimes even their clothes. 

The players wore no uniform, but were dressed 
in a pair of trunks, and their bodies were painted 
in streaks and stripes of red and black and blue and 
yellow, for the worse they looked, the better pleased 
they were. Sometimes in playing they scattered 
over a mile of prairie. The game was a very excit- 
ing one, because they never stopped until they 
were absolutely tired out, instead of having a set 
number of innings or playing until a certain time. 
The\' used to play over a wild country where there 
were many snakes, which they killed as they ran, 
and sometimes a hundred were left dead on the 
field by the end of the afternoon. After all their 
games they had a great feast, which they usually 
kept up half the night, and the victors were as 
important as the football champions of today. 

The Sioux were a very cruel people. They had 
never been taught any better, and when tracking 



i8 Our Minnesota 

an enemy, skulked along in the woods or crept low 
on the prairie until he was caught unawares; then 
the Indian scalped him with a tomahawk, a short cir- 
cular knife set on a handle, and took the scalp home 
with him in triumph. This was not mere cruelty, 
but for proof that he had killed him, as it was the 
only proof that no one might contradict. Then the 
tribe would have a scalp dance. The squaw would 
dry the scalp on which the hair was left and attach 
it to a hoop with handles, and while the men 
danced, their figures all painted up, crouching low, 
holding their tomahawks high, the women, waving 
the scalps, would come into the circle with queer 
little cries, which were fairly inhuman, and they 
would all dance until they fell tired out. The 
scalp dances kept up, if the victim was killed in 
the summer, every night until the leaves fell, and 
if in the winter, until the leaves came out in the 
spring. Anyone who had scalped a man or woman 
was allowed to wear an eagle feather in his hair, 
and sometimes an Indian chief would have what 
was called a "bonnet" of feathers cut to encircle his 
head. The bonnet of a great chief sometimes 
reached clear down to his knees, because scalping 
was considered the greatest thing that anyone 
could do. You see the Indian didn't know any 
better, and thought that if he didn't kill his enemy 
he would surely be killed by him. 



The First Minnesotan 19 

All people who progress at all settle down as soon 
as they learn to farm, and the Indians, who at first 
wandered from place to place, gradually settled 
down for a part of the year in the same place, 
and all the little Indian villages had near them 
many patches of corn. All the people who lived 
in a village belonged to the same band, which 
means that they were related or connected with 
one another like one great family. 

Besides maize, which the Europeans called com, 
they raised tobacco. One tribe, because they 
raised so much, was called the Tobacco Tribe. 
Some of them raised squash and potatoes, and they 
had ponies and dogs. The}'- called the dog chunka, 
and the horse, waken chunka, which means ''spirit 
dog. " The dogs they ate as great luxuries, or when 
there was a famine, though the Indians near the 
lakes lived a good deal on wild rice and fish. 

They made beautiful bows and arrows and pipes 
worked in copper and silver, and dyed their skins 
and the skins of animals with colors which they 
made themselves from berries and roots. The arrow 
heads were made of flint, which was very hard to 
chip off. There were at least ten Indian villages 
where the city of St. Paul is today, but one 
by one they were all deserted, as the wandering 
spirit took the people away or their enemies fright- 
ened them off. — 



20 Our Minnesota 

THE OJIBWAYS 

The other tribe in Minnesota was the Ojibway, 
which the White Men called Chippewa. We shall 
see these people after the white man came instead 
of earlier, as we did the Sioux. They live today on 
the reservations of Red Lake, Leech Lake, Pigeon 
River, Nett Lake, and White Earth, and also, at 
Cass Lake, Winnibigoshish, and at Mille Lac where 
they settled after they had driven away their 
enemies, the Sioux, who, you remember, used to 
call Mille Lac their own place. They still love 
their lakes and rivers where they used to live, and 
they are still called Fish Indians because they 
would rather eat fish than anything else. 

They used to live almost entirely upon fish, 
which were plentiful, as thousands of Minnesota 
lakes were teeming with them. The Indians called 
these Tullibees, their name for our white fish. 
They were caught in the fall, before the ice formed, 
and hung on scaffolds to freeze. Every Indian 
village had these scaffolds scattered all through 
it. Sometimes warm weather would come and the 
entire food supply for the whole village would 
spoil, and then the winter was indeed a starv- 
ing time. 

The Ojibway was tall and muscular (often six 
feet, four inches tall), had beautiful hands, and 



The First Minnesotan 21 

walked with a springing step, as though he were 
the lord of creation. The only Indians left like 
them seem to be the Nez Perces, who live in Idaho 
and sometimes come into the towns holding their 
heads as high as though they were kings, as indeed 
they used to be. The Ojibways had very thick, 
black hair, which never turned white no matter 
how old they were. They had beautiful teeth, 
were sinewy, and could swing along a trail all day 
without getting tired. The women were all tall, 
but had no beauty of face or figtire. They trudged 
or plodded along on the trails, as they well might 
because for hundreds of years the women packed 
all the household goods and often carried burdens 
of two hundred pounds. Many times a squaw 
would carry the birch-bark canoes, rush mats, 
cooking utensils, and on top of all, perch the baby. 
The Ojibways were blanket Indians, though as 
soon as they learned dress from the white men. they 
wore cotton shirts and leggings, though they never 
could be induced to give up their moccasins. 
These Ojibways were very hard to civilize, because 
they loved their old customs, and some of the 
earlier missionaries tell us that the congregation used 
to go from church to an Indian dance and whoop 
and jump with the best of them. Once after a mis- 
sionary at Red Lake had worked with them all sum- 
mer and felt sure that they had really adopted the 



22 Our Minnesota 

new religion, an old grand medicine man (a high 
order of the medicine men) came to the village. 
The missionary was discouraged to see his con- 
verts take off their civilized clothes and join in the 
dances, and to hear them boast of the Sioux they 
had scalped, and he tells us that they ate so many 
dogs at that dance that they all went home barking. 

The Leech Lake Indians were always very fierce. 
They were wild blanket men, with painted faces, 
long scalp locks, and feathers. But on the reserva- 
tions there are now very few blankets and most of 
the scalp locks are gone. The villages used to be 
surrounded with great stones and on all of them 
were offerings of tobacco to make friendly any of 
the gods who might come by. 

The Ojibways lived in bark wigwams, which 
were very cold, as there were great cracks between 
the layers of bark, yet many of them even now leave 
their comfortable houses and live in the summer in 
these one-room bark wigwams. They all sat on rush 
mats around the fire in the center, and the fire 
kept their faces warm, but their backs were very 
cold. When a visitor came he lifted the blanket 
door, because you must never knock at an Indian's 
home. They were very sociable and glad to see 
visitors, although they didn't often tell you that 
you were welcome. In an Ojibway house peo- 
ple sat opposite the door, where was the bed 



The First Minnesotan 23 

which was also the seat of the master of the house, 
and if he was very glad to see you, the father of the 
family gave you his seat, just as we always like to 
give the best we have to any of our friends who 
come to see us. Around the fire was a fender of 
small sticks, and it wasn't polite to move nearer to 
the fire than this little barrier. On a sapling hung 
one or more pots or kettles. 

These Indians were very curious about all that 
happened and, instead of being (silent and morose 
like the Sioux, were very cheerful and talka- 
tive and laughed a great deal. They loved to tell 
stories of early days, among them, stories of the 
moose and elk herding together by the hundred, 
and of killing them off with axes. They say now 
that they never thought that these animals could 
grow any less in number, but of course when the 
white man came and cut off the timber, there 
wasn't any place for them to live longer. The 
little children (who even in the coldest weather 
wore only a cotton shirt), fat and dirty, swarmed 
around the floor, falling over everything and being 
laughed at just as white children would be. The 
jib way father was very fond of his children and 
very affectionate. 

Housekeeping was very easy and simple even in 
the winter. When she happened to think of it, one 
of the older women (because you must remember 



24 Our Minnesota 

large families lived all together in one wigwam) 
would go outside and chop off some frozen fish, 
which she put into a pot. If she had flour she 
would bake bread in a pan set up on edge near 
the fire. After the white man came, the Indian 
learned to drink tea, and it was a great luxury with 
him. This meal of fish with bread and tea was 
always offered to the visitor, who was expected to 
say '*Oongh ondjita," or "This goes to the right 
spot." 

Many of the earlier settlers tell us that the Indian 
women were wonderful fish cooks and that this 
simple meal was always delicious. In the fall, of 
course, they had rice and venison and prairie 
chickens and other good things. They ate a great 
deal every day when they had it, but often forgot, 
or were too lazy to store up anything for the winter, 
and so winter was always a hard, starving time for 
them, but they were always hospitable and always 
friendly to the whites. They were very vain and 
thought they sang wonderfully well. Perhaps 
when a visitor was in a lodge the father of the 
family would reach for his drum and play and sing 
chants of peace or war, or whatever he happened to 
think of, and his face would light up as though 
he saw visions. 

When "sleepy time" came the Indian mother 
would hold up a little blanket and the child would 



The First Minnesotan 25 

lie down wherever he happened to be, and be tucked 
in on a mat. One by one everyone would lie down 
with a blanket over him, his head tightly covered, 
his feet exposed to the fire, for the Indian knew 
that if your feet are warm you can't feel very cold. 
As the fire died down they would curl their feet 
up and roll up into little balls, and while the white 
visitor with heavy clothing and an extra blanket 
often shivered all night, the Indian slept peacefully. 
The women never wore more than a cotton shirt, 
a petticoat, and a calico dress, and with a cotton 
blanket over them would sleep out in cold weather. 
During the year the jib way Indians had a great 
many things to do. In the winter they watched 
carefully, eagerly, to hear the first crow call, 
because that meant winter was over, the starving 
time was gone, and now they would have plenty to 
eat. Very early the whole tribe went into the 
woods to make maple sugar, and while the women 
made the sugar, the men went off to trap muskrats. 
For sugar, a little slit was made in a hard sugar- 
maple tree, and a little trough propped under the 
slit, leading to a bucket on the ground. These 
buckets, called mokuks, were made of birch bark. 
Then when the sap began to run it flowed down the 
troughs into the buckets, and the children were very 
busy empt3^ing them into the great big iron pots 
and kettles, which the women tended and skimmed 



26 Our Minnesota 

over a great fire. There was always snow on the 
ground and they were wet all day and all night, 
but they enjoyed this part of their work more than 
anyt hing during the year, and no one was too tired, 
or too sick, or too old, to go into the sugar camp 
when the sap began to run. When the men came 
back with the pelts of a great many muskrats, they 
all had a big feast and rejoicing which lasted until 
the little leaves began to peek out. Then the 
sap stopped running and the tribe all went home. 

Soon time came to plant potatoes and corn. 
Then everyone had to go out and gather strawber- 
ries, and after that raspberries. Later the blueber- 
ries came, which were their favorite fruit, and they 
went many miles for them, and each tribe had 
another camping trip like the spring one. In 
September they cut birch bark for their canoes and 
wigwams and dried it. Later, rashes had to be 
gathered from the lakes for their mats. Then they 
all fell to, and made their canoes. By that time 
wild rice had to be gathered, and last of all came 
the cranberry season. Each one of these different 
occupations meant a trip and the Indians were just 
as much excited over going camping as you would 
be, though to us they seemed to camp all the year 
around. Too soon the cold weather brought hunt- 
ing, and then the squaws made the moccasins and 
leggings for the tribe. The deer skin was stretched 



The First Minnesotan 27 

on a square of wooden stakes and dried for a few 
days. Then with a piece of bone the soft parts 
on the inside were scraped off and, with a knife 
like a plane, the hair was removed. The skin was 
put into some sort of a vessel, covered with the 
brains of animals and worked until it was very soft. 
It was then stretched and dried and when finished, 
was as soft as velvet, and if a doe skin, almost 
pure white. The skins were often beautifully em- 
broidered with grass, hair, quills, feathers, and 
later, beads. 

The men stayed out hunting until the first of 
January, when the dark time of the year kept them 
indoors until March, and again they had their sad, 
hard, starving time until the crows came again. 
A few days' work would have stored up all the food 
that was necessary for the winter, and they always 
made up their minds to turn over a new leaf, but 
they always forgot in the summer when food and 
sunshine were plentiful. 

These Indians never even cut enough wood for 
more than a day at a time and so it was a great 
hardship to get the wood in the winter. Often you 
might see, on a winter's day, the long line of squaws 
going into the woods and coming back with great 
heavy loads of sticks, which they threw down in 
front of the cabins and which they had to go out 
into the cold to get as they were needed. 



28 Our Minnesota 

The little children, when babies, were strapped to 
boards and tenderly cared for until they were about 
six years old, the mother carrying them everywhere 
she went, but after this age they were really left 
to bring themselves up. 

The jib ways were great walkers and after the 
whites came, carried the mail, sometimes walking 
thirty-five or forty miles a day and thinking 
nothing of it. A story is told of one Indian, 
the Red Lake mail carrier, used to walking an 
average of thirty miles a day, who was asked 
by a woman of his tribe what he did, and when 
he told her, she said: "You have an easy time, 
nothing to do but to pick up your money at the 
end of the day." 

These people were very secretive in regard to 
their names and never told them, so if one must 
be learned they let someone else tell it, and when 
the early settlers wanted to get the name of any 
Indian chief, they would ask someone else with an 
air of great secrecy. The story is told of one In- 
dian who said he didn't know his wife's name, 
although they had been married fifteen years. 

Chippewa is a very beautiful, soft language, full 
of fanciful expressions, but it is very hard to learn, • 
although the early missionaries and many of the 
traders and pioneers knew it well. 

We shall see that little by little both these Indian 



The First Minnesotan 29 

tribes were pushed farther and farther west by the 
white man until, except for a scattering few here 
and there, they were gathered on reservations. 
The way the United States Government gets the 
Indians to live on reservations is to pay for their 
lands, usually a fixed sum each year, and offer them 
houses, stoves, wagons, sleighs, cows, and oxen. 
Some of the people have taken up the customs and 
habits of so-called civilization, which really means 
putting on white men's clothes, which are not half 
as picturesque, although they are more convenient, 
than the Indians'. 

The Ojibway chiefs, once so powerful, have little 
influence today, although they are wonderful 
speakers and, when they want to stir up the tribe, 
are fiery and eloquent. The Ojibway is very 
clever and can make a great many things, useful 
and beautiful, but he is so lazy that he does very 
little. The result is that he never gets anywhere 
in development. He has a good mind and his 
sight and hearing are very keen so that he can see 
the glance of a deer's eye in the woods, or hear a 
bird or the footfall of an animal at a great distance. 
He is always patient, always polite, he never swears, 
but he never saves anything. He is cruel to his 
enemies and to animals. He doesn't even take 
care of his own ponies and often leaves them out 
in the winter cold. 



30 Our Minnesota 

Red Lake, which is really twin lakes, both of 
them large, is the present home of many of the 
Ojibways, who live along the shores on their re- 
servations and on the narrow point between the 
two parts of the lake. Their houses of logs, with 
one room, have chimneys made by themselves, of 
whitish clay. These Indians are most of them 
Christians and are the most thrifty of all our 
Indians. 

The Leech Lake Indians, who are Christians 
too, have larger houses, neat, light, and airy, with 
little gardens beside them, and they are a great 
contrast to their neighbors north, the Cass Lake 
Indians, who are heathen and are shiftless and 
dirt}?-, and their houses little and poor. 

For many years the Indians lived on the edges of 
our towns all over the State, but usually in the 
north. It is only a few years since Old Bets, the 
most famous relic of the Sioux squaws, ceased to 
haunt the railroad station and the river levee in 
Saint Paul, hoping to pick up coins from tourists, 
and indeed her hopes were justified. 

John Bluestone, an Indian chief, lived for many 
years at Shakopee, going to Prior Lake in the 
summer to fish and gather berries for the hotel, 
and his children and grandchildren are still about 
these places. 




Maiden Rock, or Lover's Leap, Lake Pepin 
(From the E. A. Bromley Collection) 




Minnehaha Falls 
(By courtesy of the Haynes Photograph Co.) 



CHAPTER III 

THE RED man's WORLD 

The Indians were too ignorant to know about 
God the Father, but had their own stories about 
creation and believed that there were many gods. 
Anything the Indian loved or feared, hated or 
admired, he thought had something to do with 
a god. When the winds rustled he thought it was 
the voice of a god, when the fire burned brightly he 
thought it was a god's hand that did it, and we don't 
wonder that when he looked up at the stars at night, 
he thought there were gods behind them. So he 
prayed to the sun, the moon, stones, dogs, and trees, 
but he believed in a Great Spirit above and beyond 
all others. 

The Chippewas called their great god ManitoUf 
the Mighty Father of the Waters, whose picture is 
in the State House in Saint Paul. The Sioux had a 
queer idea of Adam and Eve, and of the Creator, 
whom he called Taku-Waken, "that which is 
more than human. " He was like a great ox with 
eyes as big as the moon, and he could pull in or 
lengthen his horns and tail like a turtle. 

31 



2,2 Our Minnesota 

The animals were all made before the earth was, 
and where do you suppose they lived? Now before 
there was any world, Taku commanded them all 
to bring earth, and after many trials the muskrat 
dove again and again under the water and at 
last brought out a handful of dirt, — I suppose we 
ought to say "a pawful, " — and out of this the 
earth was made. Then the god took one of his own 
children and ground him up to powder and scattered 
it over the earth, and it turned to worms and out of 
the worms men were made, which is why, I suppose, 
we call people "worms of the earth." 

Another god, Oanktayhee, lived under Saint 
Anthony Falls. He was very cruel and ate up a 
soldier who was swept off and whose body was 
never found. One of the early missionaries, Robert 
Hopkins, preached against this god and when he 
was drowned at Traverse des Sioux, all the Indians 
thought that he had been swallowed as a punish- 
ment. The god of opposites, Hayokah, was a queer 
one; his followers called hard things, soft; white 
things, black; smooth things, rough, because he did, 
and they believed that he groaned with joy and 
smiled with pain. They used to dance in his honor 
and tried to do exactly the opposite of what they 
really felt. 

One of the greatest of the Sioux gods was 
Wahkeenyan, the Thunder Bird, who lived in a 



The Red Man's World 33 

lodge on the top of a high mountain. At his 
east door was a butterfly; at the west a bear; at 
the south a fawn; at the north a reindeer all 
dressed in sacred red down. He created tomahawks 
and spears, and he was so big that he made what 
are called thunder tracks, which you can still see 
near Big Stone Lake, huge footprints in the stone 
bigger than any human giant could possibly make. 

The Indians placed their dead on scaffolds high 
above the ground, building one at each stopping 
place, and on them put food in a cup or bowl, and 
bow and arrows to use on the journey to the Happy 
Hunting Ground. After building as many scaffolds 
as there were stopping places on their travels from 
place to place, the Sioux buried some of the bones 
in the mounds that we shall speak of later, and 
which we find scattered all up and down our State. 

The Sioux thought that any object might be some 
kind of a spirit, but only hard, egg-shaped stones 
were to be worshiped, like the reddish bowlder, 
called Red Rock, on the Mississippi shore near 
Saint Paul. 

Like the Indians of the Far West, the Ojibways 
had totems; clan symbols, carved, burned, or 
painted on their grave posts which told of great 
deeds of their families. The totem was like a 
family history and had at the top a sign which was 
the clan name, like buffalo, or crow, or deer. 



34 Our Minnesota 

The jib way sign was an eagle on a rock, eating 
the head of an owl. We should think their totems 
very ugly, but they revere them and think they 
are the most beautiful pictures possible. 

The Indians all know how to show the family 
names very quickly. A camper once asked a Chip- 
pewa Indian what his name was. He stepped to a 
nearby tree; with his hunting knife made a few 
slashes and designs and then stepped back as 
though he had done a wonderful thing. And he 
had, because a caribou horn and some rushes were 
plainly shown. It was found afterward that his 
name was Swamper Caribou. 

The medicine men, who taught all things, were 
trained when boys by the older medicine men 
and were told all the mysteries of religion and heal- 
ing. When anyone was sick the medicine man was 
sent for in a hurry, and the messenger ran back 
from his lodge as fast as he could, while the medicine 
man had to follow. If he refused to do this, the 
family sometimes sent five or six times, and the 
more he had to be coaxed the more the Indians 
thought of their medicine man. Meanwhile, the 
sick man was waiting. When the medicine man 
came to the lodge he went through all sorts of 
queer, mysterious incantations and mumblings. 
Sometimes, but not often, he put the patient, 
stripped of his blanket, in a small tent where stones 



The Red Man's World 35 

had been heated redhot and water poured over them 
and gave him a sweat bath. But usually he tried 
to charm away the sickness. The charms were 
always carried in a medicine pouch, which no one 
was ever allowed to see, and which gained its power 
from its mystery. Several of these pouches came 
into the hands of white men and all they contained 
were a few stones, a lump of clay, pieces of an 
animal's tooth, and a dried root or two. Yet the 
Indians believed in them and in their power. 

As everything in nature was a god or spirit, and 
all the animals and birds and plants were once in 
different shapes, they tell us many stories of the 
way they came to be. 

THE WATER LILY 

Once a tribe noticed above the village a very 
beautiful star which came every night and which 
was so large and so luminous that it seemed im- 
possible to be just a star. Night after night they 
used to go out and look at it as it rose and hung 
above the tops of the trees. 

One night one of the young chiefs had a dream of 
a beautiful maiden, who said that she was tired of 
living far above people in the heavens and that she 
wanted to come down to the earth to live, but she 
did not know how. He awakened, hurried out of 



36 Our Minnesota 

his tent and there, just above the wigwam, the face 
of the maiden smiled out of the great star. After 
he had begged her to come down and promised her 
that the tribe would protect her, she appeared as 
a white rose beside the trail, but she was so afraid 
of the people and of the dogs that daily passed by, 
that she moved farther away from the path and 
fastened herself on a great rock and was called the 
rock rose. But she was almost as lonely here as 
she had been in the heavens, and so one night, she 
moved out into the quiet waters of a beautiful 
lake near the camp. There she has lived ever since 
and her children are spread over the waters of the 
lakes of Minnesota. 

THE ARBUTUS 

Once there was an old hermit who was about to 
die in a lonely wigwam, and he was wondering 
what he could do to leave something worth while 
to his people to be remembered by, so he called all 
the spirits to help him. 

A lovely girl came into his hut. Her hair was 
covered with moss, her hands and feet bound with 
pussy willows, and she had a lovely pink and white 
face, which smiled out from under her strange 
covering. 

As soon as she came into the wigwam, a delicate 



The Red Man's World 37 

fragrance arose and as the old man asked her who 
she was, she said: "I am Hope, which keeps people 
warm and happy through the long, cold, winter 
months. I will be a promise of Spring to your 
people always." 

The old man became weaker and weaker and, 
as he fell, worn out at last, with his breath gone, 
the maiden came near him, covered him up with 
leaves and moss, and in among them she tucked 
tiny pink blossoms which were hidden in the folds 
of her garments. They were so sweet that they 
filled the whole air with fragrance, and today, 
when the snow melts, you will find them along the 
shores of the lakes in northern Minnesota. 

THE ROBIN 

An old man had an only son named Opeeche, 
whom he wanted to have surpass all others in the 
trial of strength, which every young Indian has to 
go through before he is worthy to be called a Brave. 
Most of the boys take a steam bath and fast for 
seven days. During the fasting when they become 
so faint that they can no longer stand, they dream 
dreams or see visions, which they think will foretell 
their future or help them in their after lives. 

The old man made up his mind that his son 
should fast twelve days instead of seven, and in this 



38 Our Minnesota 

way gain great fame for his endurance, which 
means more to the Indian than anything else. 

So Opeeche went through three sweating baths, 
and, taking a clean mat, went all alone to the 
little lodge made ready for him, and there he fasted 
nine days waiting for the vision, which was to 
foretell his path in the future. Over and over again 
he had bad dreams and begged his father to let 
him go and come back later, for this seemed a poor 
time for his trial. But the father insisted, and 
encouraged him with the hope that his twelve 
days' fast would make him a very great man among 
his people and that he would have power always. 
The eleventh day the father came to see his son 
and found him lying on the ground in the lodge, 
faint and scarcely able to speak. He talked to him 
and promised to bring him food early in the morn- 
ing, but the young man made no reply and scarcely 
seemed to hear him. 

In the morning the father went to the hut with a 
light meal of things that his son loved and he 
found, to his surprise, that Opeeche was sitting up 
and painting himself with vermilion all over his 
chest and as far back as he could reach on his 
shoulders. The father was terribly worried and 
begged him, then ordered him, to stop; but he kept 
on just the same, and at last when his father tried 
to take the paint brush away from him, Opeeche flew 



The Red Man's World 39 

to the top of the lodge and began to sing. His song 
was very sweet and very cheerful. He told his 
father he could never be a warrior but a messenger 
of peace and joy. He promised always to live near 
men's houses and to be a friend to man and always 
to be happy and contented. Then where his son 
had been, the unhappy father saw instead, singing 
in the sunshine, his breast aflame with vermilion, 
a Robin Redbreast. 

THE STAR FAMILY 

White Hawk, a young Indian chief, was wander- 
ing one day through a prairie when he came to a 
well worn path in the form of a ring. There was no 
path leading up to it and there was no path leading 
away from it, so he was sure the ring was made by a 
Manitou. He hid himself in some bushes and after 
a little while heard some sweet singing, and right 
out of the sky a great wicker basket was lowered 
into the middle of the mystic circle. Out of it 
sprang a dozen or more lovely maidens, who joined 
hands and began dancing and singing around the 
ring. White Hawk started towards them but the 
minute they saw him, they all got quickly into 
the basket and disappeared right into the sky. Day 
after day he hid himself and watched them, and day 
after day they disappeared as soon as they saw him. 



40 Our Minnesota 

But one day he ran up quickly and seized one of the 
girls in his arms, and the basket disappeared with 
all her sisters, leaving her on the earth alone with 
White Hawk. 

He took her to his lodge and spent his time in 
making her happy. Finally she seemed to forget 
about her own people in the heavens and lived 
happily with White Hawk. 

After a while a little son came to live with them, 
but the star mother began to long for her own people 
and secretly made a basket (she had been taught 
how by the Manitou) of rushes. One day she took 
her little son with her and away they flew up to the 
heavens she came from. 

White Hawk was very unhappy and he wandered 
about and wouldn't be comforted. Every day he 
visited the mystic ring, hoping that he should see 
again his star and his little son. The star found, 
when she was among her own people, that she 
wanted White Hawk to come and live with them 
too, and so one day the Manitou sent for him, but 
White' Hawk wouldn't go without all of his tribe, 
so they all went, taking presents up to the heavens 
with them. These presents were distributed among 
the people there and they were all turned into the 
image of the thing which they chose; some of 
them animals, some of them eagles, and some of 
them other birds. 



The Red Man's World 41 

White Hawk chose a white feather and he and 
his wife and Httle son, white hawks, all flew away 
together, and now when they want to live on earth 
they come here, and when they want to fly up to 
the heavens their wings are able to carry them 
there. 

HIAWATHA 

Hiawatha you all know very well. His mother 
was the daughter of the moon and he was a messen- 
ger of the Great Spirit, who sent him down to earth 
to be a teacher and a prophet. He talked all 
winter and taught all year until the spring came 
and then school closed and he went, like the rest 
of us in the summer time, to wander or to hunt, 
or to be out in the world until winter gathered his 
people together again. 

lAGOO 

The Chippewas had a queer legend of lagoo, a 
talker who, like some people of today, always saw 
things bigger than anyone else and had bigger 
stories to tell. His eyes were like magnifying 
glasses, his ears heard the soft wind as though it 
were thunder. The birds that he saw were always 
big and brilliant. The animals had queer eyes like 
great wheels and claws like steel traps, and they 
could step over the hills and fly over mountains. 



42 Our Minnesota 

He saw water-lilies whose leaves were big enough 
to make a dress for his wife and all his daughters, 
and mosquitoes with wings large enough for sails 
for his boat. He went out one day to get some 
red willow for smoking, and found a thicket so big 
that it took him half a day to walk around it; 
so whenever an Indian wants to tell another In- 
dian that he doesn't believe him, all he has to say 
is, "lagoo, the story teller, is here again." 

THE ORIGIN OF THE INDIAN CORN 

Mondamin was the son of a chief, and when 
it came time for his trial of fasting, he made 
up his mind that he would try to learn something 
which would help his people. He was a very earnest 
young man, very kind-hearted, and it hurt him year 
by year to see his tribe almost starve toward the 
end of the winter, for they had nothing to live on 
but fish and game, and these never lasted into the 
springtime. 

So he went away to his little lodge where he was 
to be all alone for seven days, or until the dreams 
came to him, and after he had been alone one 
day, he walked in the evening and looked at 
plants and pulled them up by the roots trying 
to find something that would feed his people all 
winter. 



The Red Man's World 43 

On the third day of his fast, a beautiful spirit, 
dressed in a rustling robe of all shades of vivid 
green with nodding plumes above his head and a 
face like the sunshine, came and wanted to wrestle 
with him and encouraged him by telling him that 
Mondamin would finally throw him. Mondamin 
was very weary, but as he wrestled he seemed to 
get strong and, although the spirit overcame him, 
he lay down that night and dreamed again of the 
beautiful vision. He wrestled with him three 
times, each time getting stronger, although he had 
nothing to eat all the while. 

On the evening of the sixth day the stranger told 
him that on the morrow he would overcome him, 
and said that he must plant him where he fell, 
keep the ground soft, and not let any weeds grow 
above him. All this happened and Mondamin 
kept it all a secret, going every few days to keep 
the earth soft and to keep the weeds away, and 
one day late in the summer he took his father to 
see the beautiful green dress of the tall Indian 
com with its nodding plumes, which has ever since 
been a blessing to the Indians, in the long hard 
winter. 

the"summer maker 

Once a fisher, a queer little. animal, living in the 



44 Our Minnesota 

north, had a son who was very much spoiled, and 
one day beginning to cry because he was so tired 
of the cold and snow, he begged his father to make it 
warm and green and beautiful. The father kept 
telling him that he didn't know how, but the child 
insisted and finally cried himself sick. So the 
father started off with two friends, the otter and the 
raccoon, and after they had walked many, many 
days, they came to the lodge of a very ugly 
Manitou, with whom they finally got to be friends, 
and he showed them a high hill, from the top of 
which he told them they could jump into summer. 

The otter jumped very high, but he hit the hard 
wall of the sky and fell back wounded. The raccoon 
jumped higher and harder and made a hole in the 
sky, through which, with a mighty jump, after 
trying and falling back three or four times, the 
little fisher managed to crawl. 

He found himself in the sought-for land of 
summer. All along the edge of the wall were cages 
with bright-colored birds in them and he began 
opening the doors and letting them out. They 
flew down through the hole to the earth, where the 
warm winds were descending, and although the gods 
of heaven shut up the cages and tried to tie up the 
summer winds, many of them escaped. So the 
little boy ceased his crying even though summer 
came for only a part of the year. But the poor 



The Red Man's World 45 

little fisher was thrown down through the hole 
which he had made and never enjoyed any of the 
summer except the little glimpse he had when he 
was in the summer land. 



CHAPTER IV 

WHAT THE RED MAN LEFT US 

It is strange to think that the people who 
first lived here are almost all gone but that the 
lakes and streams and prairies where they fished 
and hunted and the places where they lived such a 
care-free life are still left. 

The traces and memories of these first men will 
never die out in Minnesota, because they have 
given us so many reminders of themselves in places, 
in names, and in stories which they have handed 
down and which make us see the kind of people 
they were. Along the banks of rivers beginning 
away down in Ohio and making a line of almost 
eight hundred miles, stretching all along the valleys 
are the mounds where they buried their dead. 
Once there were more than ten thousand of these 
mounds. Now many like the famous one which 
used to be at Red Wing, are leveled for streets 
and roads. These mounds are all in beautiful spots, 
which makes us believe that they wanted the 

46 



What the Red Man Left Us 47 

"quiet" people to rest in the places which they 
would love and which their spirits would often 
come back to visit. 

The most commanding of all these old burial 
places is the one in St. Paul on a high bluff over- 
looking the Mississippi River, where it bends to the 
south. Whether the scene is all covered with 
green, summer birds about, the Mississippi River 
flowing through it like a wide blue ribbon; or 
bright with many-colored autumn leaves reflecting 
themselves like blurred pictures in the river; or all 
under the white snowflowers with the river a silver 
band of ice, — it is wonderful to look at. On one side 
is the forest broken by patches of green farm land, 
on the other are the spires and towers of the capital 
city and the smoke of factories, while high above 
all shine the two glittering domes, one of the 
Cathedral of St. Paul, the other, the State House of 
Minnesota, showing two things brought by the 
white man which have helped so much to make this 
great State, and which have made the whole world 
civilized. These two things you know before now 
are religion and law. 

As we stand today among these mounds rising 
green and shapely from the ground, we seem to see 
the Indian looking toward the west as though to 
watch his departing people leaving the lands they 
loved, and ta ever remind us of those who are 



48 Our Minnesota 

buried in the ground about, and over whom his 
spirit seems to be keeping guard. 

Once there were thirty-two of these mounds; 
now only thirteen are left. The Minnesota Histori- 
cal Society has had all but a few of them opened 
and inside were found a few bones, some arrows, 
pipes, and here and there a bowl or so. Almost all 
of the things that were inside the mounds are in 
the museum in the State House under the glittering 
dome, way over to the right. 

Jonathan Carver, one of the first white men who 
ever came to this part of the country, tells us that 
while he was here he saw Indians come in the fall 
bringing the bones of their tribe who had died dur- 
ing the year, and that they had great exercises 
when they buried them. 

Scattered all over the State, always on the banks 
of rivers or of lakes, are many more. Mound City, 
Lake Minnetonka, was named because of them, and 
there are mounds all around this lake. 

Besides these mounds there are many heaps of 
stones and in a few places flint chips, showing 
where the Indians made arrows. This flint is 
very hard and difficult to chip, but nothing else 
was so good for arrow heads. Professor Win- 
chell and Miss Babbitt were the first to find 
heaps of very old flint chips, near Little Falls, 
and these were the first great discoveries which 



What the Red Man Left Us 49 

proved that the Indian was here many, many years 
ago. 

The Indian, too, will always be remembered 
because of the names of many places in our State. 
Some of them are connected with myths and legends. 
All of them are story-telling names, for the Indians 
called everything and everybody a name which 
meant something. These names, of course, tell so 
much more of history than any new ones could, 
that they were kept when the white settlers came, 
and always will be. The name of our State, you 
remember, is an Indian one, and every time you go 
by a lake, I am sure you will try, when it isn't 
covered with ice, to see the sky-tinted water. 

Winona (you will find it on the map in a county 
of the same name) was a name given by the Sioux 
to an oldest child if a daughter. This Winona 
from which the city is named was the daughter of a 
great chief. She was very handsome and a young 
brave of her band was always playing on his flute 
to her. They cared a great deal for each other, but 
he was poor and her father wanted her to marry a 
warrior who was famous because he had taken 
many Ojibway scalps. Winona objected to 
marrying him and told her parents how much she 
loved the young brave and begged them to let 
her go to his tepee. They refused, and day after 
day the summer went on, making Winona more and 



50 Our Minnesota 

more unhappy, until the time came to go to Lake 
Pepin to fish and hunt. The tribe camped on a 
level spot with sunny meadows and dark, cool, 
deep shadows under the great rock which rises 
four hundred and fifty feet above the lake. While 
everybody was feasting one evening, Winona 
climbed up this high cliff and stood on a bare place 
at the top, where she reached out her arms and 
began telling her story to the people. Appealingly 
she told them that she couldn't bear to marry 
anyone but her own brave, and as soon as the 
people below, disturbed in their meal, understood 
what she meant to do, they started to go to her, the 
great warrior leaping first and away ahead of all 
the others, but before he could reach her, Winona 
sprang from the height and was dashed to pieces 
on the rock below. There the great cliff called 
** Maiden Rock" stands today and you may easily 
see it from the cars on the railroad as you go toward 
the city which stills bears her name. 

PILOT KNOB 

A hill near the Minnesota River above Mendota, 
where Eagle Eye, a great Dakota, was buried, has 
a story which will always be remembered. Eagle 
Eye was accidentally killed by a companion when 
hunting with his band and had only enough time 



What the Red Man Left Us 51 

to call for his wife, whose name was Scarlet Dove, 
before the breath left his body. Scarlet Dove 
wrapped him tenderly in skins and carried him on 
her back on the journey. Every place where her 
band stopped on the way home she built for Eagle 
Eye's body a scaffolding of saplings on which she 
laid him, and under it she watched every night. 
When they reached home she laid his body on its 
last resting place and died underneath it, and from 
Fort Snelling you may see the place where their 
graves are. 

Red Wing was named from several great chiefs of 
the Dakotas, who lived near the present city of Red 
Wing. Kaposia, meaning *' light," a town on the 
Mississippi River near Pig's Eye, was named 
because of the fleet-footed Sioux who lived for a 
long time in that village. Kasota, which means 
*' cleared off," is named from the limestone quarries 
which were all about there. This limestone is a 
beautiful pinkish-yellow, and the halls of the State 
House, and the stairways, and the floors are all 
made from Kasota stone, polished so that even on 
the darkest day it looks sunny inside of that great 
building. 

Mahtomedi, which means White Bear, is on that 
lake, whose name has been translated; Mankato, 
changed from Mah-kah-to, which means ''blue 
earth," is in Blue Earth County. Minneapolis is 



52 Our Minnesota 

half Sioux and half Greek, Minne, meaning * ' water " 
and Polis, "city," and this name instead of St. 
Anthony was given to it in 1852. Shakopee 
was the name of a chief who lived there and trans- 
lated means "six." His son's name Shakpidan, 
means "little six." 

PIPESTONE 

Gitchi-Manitou had his throne at Pipestone. 
You remember he was the great god who gave so 
many useful things to his people. Upon his heart 
was trouble because men warred with one another, 
and he split open with his hands the quarry, that 
warring men might make calumets or peace pipes, so 
the Indians made wonderful pipes of this red slate. 
Often these pipes were beautifully inlaid with silver 
and many of them are in the State museum today. 

Before a council or "big talk" the calumet was 
passed in silence, from the chief who smoked it 
first, to each one who took a whiff until it had gone 
around the circle. Then the talk was begun and 
afterward the peace pipe was smoked again as a 
token of agreement just as we would sign a paper. 
Near Pipestone, you remember, the Manitou left 
his thunder tracks and near there also is "Leaping 
Rock," where the early people used to make trials 
of strength. 



What the Red Man Left Us 53 

Chaska is named after the eldest son of a chief 
and this was the name that was always given to 
an oldest child if a son, as Winona was given if 
a daughter. Shadow Falls was named after a Chief 
Chaska and his daughter who disappeared over 
the edge of the clifE one stormy night and whose 
spirits for many years might be seen in the mist 
at the foot of the rock. 

Wabasha means "red battle standard," or ''red 
leaf"; Isanti, "long knife," was the name which 
the Indians called the American soldiers because 
of their long swords. They called St. Paul, Im- 
ni-ja-ska, which means white cliff, one of the 
names that we ought to be glad we changed, because 
it would have been very hard for us to use. 

Anoka means "on both sides" and the city was 
called this because it was on both sides of the Rum 
River. 

OJIBWAYS 

The Ojibways have left many names also and 
their language is much more beautiful though not 
more meaningful than the Sioux. Bemidji means 
Cross Lake because the head stream of the Missis- 
sippi River crosses it and comes out on the oppo- 
site side. Mesabi, or Messabi, where are the great 
iron mines, means giant range. Watab River, which 
flows into the Mississippi north of the capital city, 
is named from the long, thin, threadlike roots of 



54 Our Minnesota 

tamarack and pine trees which the Indians split 
up and used for sewing together their birch-bark 
canoes. Satik, which names so many things, the 
rapids, the lake, and the town, reminds us that the 
Sac and Fox Indians once lived here. 

Mahnomen, the name given to one of our new 
counties, means wild rice. 

Chisago is the lake which the Ojibways called 
kichi (large) and saga (fair or lovely). Because 
this was hard to pronounce it was smoothed into 
the present name. Kanabec is the jib way word 
for river or snake. 

We have translated into English the Indian 
names for Big Stone, Cottonwood, Redwood, 
Traverse, and Yellow Medicine, which are Sioux; 
and Clear Water, Crow Wing, Ottertail, and Red 
Lake are translated into English from the names 
which the jib way called these places. 

The early traders used in French the same name 
which in Indian means the "lake that talks," so 
Lac qui Parle was named because of the echoes 
which are thrown back from the cliffs. In the 
same way came also the name of our Mille Lacs, 
which the Indians called the "wood of a thousand 
lakes," and Roseau, which they called Rush River. 
The Indians called one of their rivers, which was 
hard to get through, by a name which the French 
called "la Riviere des Embarras, " which means 



What the Red Man Left Us 55 

*'the difficult river.'* It was shortened to Desem- 
barras and, by a way almost as winding as the river 
itself, we get the word Zumbro and Zumbrota. 

Many words, too, which we use almost every day, 
come from the Indians. Some of them are words 
which the children east and west of us know only 
from books, while we keep the words because the 
things they mean we borrowed from the Indians 
who used them first. 

The Ojibways called their houses wigwams; the 
Sioux called theirs tepees. The word powwow, 
which means their Indian council; barbecue, an 
animal roasted whole; totem, canoe, moccasin, and 
toboggan are all Indian words. The animals found 
here by the white men keep the names the red 
man called them. Some of these are: moose, 
caribou, woodchuck, chipmunk, and our own de- 
structive little State animal, the gopher. Our 
words, maize (com), potato, hickory, tamarack, 
and kinni-kinnick, the Indian word for red willow 
(their tobacco), are from the red men. 

And so, although the Indian is almost unknown 
in his haunts, we keep and always shall keep the 
words which ought to remind us of the people 
who, though fierce and unforgiving, were brave and 
patient and who show us by these names how keenly 
they looked at the things about them and how much 
they loved nature. 



CHAPTER V 

HOW WE GAINED THE LAND 
FROM THE WHITE MEN 

If you will look at the map of Minnesota, you 
will find that it is divided into two parts by the 
Mississippi River and the chain of lakes from which 
it flows. You remember that in the early days, the 
northeastern part was lived in by the O jib way 
Indians and the southwestern part by the Sioux, 
but the white men who came into the Indian coun- 
try did not usually consider that the Indians had 
any rights over the land and so claimed whatever 
they discovered. 

The land east of the Mississippi River, you re-. 
member, too, was explored by the French and so, of 
course, they claimed it. The English, who had 
settled all along the Atlantic Ocean and up as far 
as Maine, claimed all the land clear to the Mis- 
sissippi River but made no settlements so early 
as the French, and when they began to spread 
westward, as soon as the Atlantic Coast was filled 
up, they had trouble, of course, with the French 

56 



How We Gained the Land 57 

who had already settled along the Ohio River, 
the Great Lakes, and the Mississippi. 

The Algonquin Indians, whom we think were 
relatives of the Ojibways, knew the French, who 
had taught them to be Christians and had settled 
down in their little villages and lived with them 
for a long time. Other Indians called the Iroquois, 
who lived farther east, had been selling furs, and 
trading generally with the English for a long, long 
time, and so of course when the English and the 
French claimed the same territory the Algonquins 
helped the French and the Iroquois the English. 

They fought many wars for nearly a hundred 
years and we call them ''French and Indian Wars'* 
although really they were French and English wars. 
In one of the fiercest fights, in what is today Pennsyl- 
vania, George Washington fought with the English 
because this, you see, was while the United States 
belonged to England long before the Revolution. 
Finally after many villages had been burned, many 
homes destroyed, and many people killed, the 
English won some great battles and in 1763 the 
French had to give up their claim, which is the way 
that all Canada became English and all the land in 
what is today the United States east of the Missis- 
sippi River became English too. 

Now only twenty years after this came the 
Revolutionary War when we became independent 



58 Our Minnesota 

of England, and all the land east of the Mississippi 
River was United States territory, but north of the 
Great Lakes it remained English. So you see, 
east of the Mississippi River, Minnesota was now 
territory that belonged to the Union. 

Now let us cross the river and look at the land on 
the western side. Long before the French came 
here it was all claimed by the Spanish, clear down 
to the Gulf of Mexico, but none of the Spanish lived 
here, and so their claims didn't amount to much, 
for the French who came afterward began trading 
with the Indians and lived with them, making little 
settlements. And so, of course, all the land as far 
as the Rocky Mountains was claimed by the French, 
but when the French gave up the eastern part of 
their land to the English they owed Spain a great 
deal, on account of many wars and troubles last- 
ing a century back, and they had to let Spain have 
all their land on the western side of the Mississippi 
River. Poor France, who had done so much to 
explore and settle it, was squeezed out of North 
America and after 1763 didn't own anything over 
here, except two tiny islands away up near New- 
foundland. 

After a while the great French general Na- 
poleon tried to conquer all of Europe, and he did 
get the land between the Rocky Mountains and the 
Mississippi River away from Spain. We did not 



How We Gained the Land 59 

like having the French on the other side of the 
Mississippi River because we wanted to be able to 
float all our goods down to the Gulf of Mexico with- 
out any trouble, and so we bought this land from 
France in 1803 and called it the "Louisiana Terri- 
tory. " Now you see the United States owns all of 
Minnesota though we were not quite sure where our 
northern boundary stopped and where England's 
began. 

When the land south of the Great Lakes and 
north of the Ohio, extending as far as the Mississippi 
River, came to us from England in 1783, it was all 
claimed by some of the States, for it had been 
promised to them by England when they were 
colonies, and a large part of it wasn't settled at all. 

The little States were afraid that when it was 
settled there would be so many more people in the 
big States like Virginia and Connecticut, that they 
would have all the power, so they refused to have 
anything to do with the government unless the 
land, which wasn't settled, was given to the United 
States. After quarreling about it for some time 
New York generously gave up her western lands 
and the others followed her example, so that every- 
thing in this region belonged to the United States 
Government. 

It was called the Northwest Territory, and a set 
of rules called the ''Ordinance of 1787" was made 



6o Our Minnesota 

by Thomas Jefferson for its government. This set 
of rules in a good many ways governed all of our 
territories, but there were three things which 
belonged only to this region, and of course the 
eastern part of Minnesota was under these rules, 
though when the part west of the Mississippi was 
added they were applied there too. 

These important things were: First, that every- 
body should have the religion he wanted, for there 
were then laws about religion in some of the eastern 
States. Second, that there should never be any 
slavery in the Northwest Territory, and third, that 
children should be educated at the public expense. 
So we inherited these three good things for which 
we ought to be thankful. 

You remember part of Minnesota was Louisiana 
Territory, while that east of the Mississippi River 
was called the Northwest Territory, which was cut 
up into different States and finally the only ter- 
ritory left was Wisconsin, our next-door neighbor. 

When Wisconsin Territory wanted to be a State 
(because a State is so much more powerful than a 
territory) people in the eastern part of Minnesota 
between the St. Croix and the Mississippi Rivers 
didn't want to belong to Wisconsin, because they 
had many more friends along the Mississippi River 
than they had along the St. Croix, and so they asked 
to be the territory of Minnesota and have the 



How We Gained the Land 6i 

western part, far beyond the Red River, joined 
with that left over from Wisconsin. After send- 
ing one of our settlers, Mr. Sibley, to Washington, 
to beg Congress to let us be a separate territory, 
we became one in 1849, as we shall learn later. 

Now let us take a trip along the edge of 
Minnesota. 

For one hundred and fifty miles Lake Superior is 
our northeastern boundary and until it meets the 
St. Louis River, which the boundary follows to a 
point near Fond du Lac, when it goes south in a 
straight line until it meets the St. Croix River. 
The boundary winds down the beautiful St. Croix 
until it flows into the Mississippi at Point Douglas 
a little north of Hastings, where the Mississippi 
becomes our boundary until it reaches the northern 
line of Iowa, which was settled before Minnesota. 
At this point it leaves the river and goes west in a 
straight line two hundred and sixty-two miles when 
it turns due north until it meets Big Stone Lake, 
the centre of which it follows until its end, and 
then the line jumps across Brown's Valley to the 
centre of Lake Traverse, whose outlet flows north 
instead of south. When the water is high a canoe 
may sometimes be floated across Brown's Valley, 
and once a steamboat, attempting to get over, was 
sunk by a rock on the prairie. Taking up the 
boundary again we go north from Lake Traverse, 



62 Our Minnesota 

by Bois des Sioux River as far as Breckenridge 
where it flows into the great Red River of the 
North, which forms the boundary until we reach 
the southern border of Canada. Then we go east 
in a straight line until we run into the Lake of the 
Woods and Rainy River, which border the State as 
far as Rainy Lake and down a series of many lakes, 
into Lake Superior by the Pigeon River. Now that 
is a long trip and it would take us many days to 
go around the State for it is many, many miles. 

But look at that queer little peninsula up north 
in the Lake of the Woods! That is one of the 
strange things about our boundary, for when it was 
settled in 1814, by the Treaty of Ghent after the 
War of 181 2, that the Lake of the Woods should be 
the northern boundary, it was supposed that there 
were many rivers which flowed from the Lake of 
the Woods east, and we were to have the land 
drained by those rivers. 

When the survey was made it was found that 
there wasn't one river which flowed east and so 
because of the intention, after many surveys had 
been made and committees appointed to settle the 
matter, this little piece which is called the Northern 
Peninsula was ceded to the United States in 1873 
and the question finally settled by the United 
States and England in 1877. 

The boundary is marked by posts with the initials 



How We Gained the Land 63 

of the United States on one side and of England on 
the other, and so at last was settled the question 
of boundary between us and the Mother Land one 
hundred years after we gained our independence. 

Now we have seen how the White Men settled 
with one another about the ownership of the land 
but we haven't adjusted matters as yet with the 
Indians. 

TREATIES WITH THE INDIANS 

The people who came here first claimed the land 
that they discovered and where they planted their 
flags, but they knew all the same that it really 
belonged to the Red Man. They could have driven 
him out because he didn't know anything about 
law, although it would have made him a deadly 
enemy forever, and it would never have been right. 
We are glad to remember that, although the 
White Man was not always fair to the Indian, at 
least he let him know that the first right to the land 
was his. It would not have been a very good plan 
not to be friends with the Indians even if it had been 
right or possible, because we know that, aside from 
the fact that right is right, honesty is the best policy 
after all and so we made many "treaties," as they 
were called, with the Indians. 

The first treaty that we hear of was said to have 



64 Our Minnesota 

been made by Jonathan Carver who said that the 
Sioux deeded to him all the land near the city of 
St. Paul and whose heirs, many years later, claimed 
the property for miles up and down the river, in- 
cluding what is called Carver's Cave and Dayton's 
Bluff, that beautiful place along the river where 
the Indian Mounds are, and where, you remember. 
Carver saw the Sioux burying their dead. This 
claim was not made until years afifeer he died. 
People didn't believe that the Carver fimily ought 
to own all the land from the head of St. Anthony 
Falls as far as Lake Pepin, though the .deed was said 
to have been written at the great cave, and was 
signed with a turtle and a snake, ti^^ totems of 
two great Indian tribes which sealed" the treaty. 
This treaty was never proved to be a real one, and 
it is thought that it was never signed by the Indians 
though it has been talked about a great deal, and 
for many years the family tried in the courts to get 
the land. 

After the Revolutionary War, you remember, 
the English still kept their posts in our country in 
spite of their promise to withdraw, and of course 
they did not want to leave because their trade with 
the Indians was so profitable to them. So in 1805 
Lieutenant Zebulon Pike was ordered to visit this 
part of the country and expel the British traders. 
You know that this was just after we had bought 



Treaties with the Indians 65 

this part of the country from France and so we 
owned both sides of the Mississippi River. Lieu- 
tenant Pike was a wonderful man, for he was not 
only a leader, a scout, a hunter providing all the 
meat for his party, but a surveyor, an astronomer, 
and a geologist, and with a few soldiers unused to 
frontier life he made a very difficult journey and 
had wonderful adventures on the way. 

He went to Kaposia, the little Indian village 
below St. Paul, made friends with the tribe who 
lived there, and then camped on the big island just 
at the mouth of the Minnesota River where it 
flows into the Mississippi, below the bluff on which 
Fort Snelling was going to be built years later. 
This island is still called Pike Island and it was there 
that he made his treaty with the Dakotas and 
obtained for the United States the grant of land 
nine miles on each side of the river, allowing the 
right to the Indians to hunt and fish there. For 
this he gave them two thousand dollars in goods 
which seemed a great bargain to the Indians at 
that time. 

Lieutenant Pike had many adventures which 
were thrilling and which make us feel that he was a 
remarkable man, for he was so firm and so friendly, 
and so patriotic all the way through. His diary 
is most interesting to read. Here is a little extract 
from it, telling of a talk with the Indians : ' * Brothers, 



66 Our Minnesota 

I am happy to meet you here at this council fire, 
which your father has sent me to kindle and to take 
you by the hands as our children. We have but 
lately acquired from the Spanish the extensive 
territory of Louisiana. Our general has thought 
proper to send out a number of his warriors to visit 
all his red children, and to tell them his will and 
to hear what request they may have to make of 
their father. I am happy the choice has fell on 
me to come this road as I find my brothers, the 
Sioux, ready to listen to my words. . . . Brothers, 
these posts are intended as a benefit to you. It is 
the intention of the United States to establish at 
these posts, factories in which the Indians may 
procure all their things at a cheaper and better 
rate than they do now or than your traders can 
afford to sell them to you. Brothers, I expect that 
you will give orders to all your young warriors to 
respect my flag, and protection which I may extend 
to the Chippewa chiefs who may come down with me 
in the spring ; for was a dog to run to my lodge for 
safety, his enemy must walk over me to hurt him. " 
The Indians themselves had much trouble about 
the lands, where the different tribes used to fish 
and hunt, and the second treaty, in which they 
had a part, was made between the Ojibways and 
the Sioux in 1826 not very long after Fort Snelling 
was established. 



Treaties with the Indians 67 

The United States Government decided to help 
the Indians make dividing lines between their 
hunting grounds and so ordered them to meet at 
Fond du Lac, not very far from Duluth on Lake 
Superior, in the middle of summer. The commis- 
sioners came in a great barge all decked with flags 
and banners of red, white, and blue. They brought 
with them a band and it was there that the Indians 
heard Hail Columbia for the first time. There were 
seven tribes, who sent their chiefs, and of course 
they had a great deal of speech-making and feasting, 
and "pow-wowed" for ^lyq days before they could 
be made to promise anything. They were finally 
brought to time by the thought of the presents 
which they were always keen about, and which they 
were told would not be distributed until they 
agreed. 

One old Ojibway woman came in place of her 
husband, and, instead of giving a present to the 
great white men, she brought only a handful of 
porcupine quills and a few blades of grass to show 
her husband's good will. She said: "My husband 
is old and blind, but he has a mouth and two ears 
so he can speak and hear, and I have come for a 
present for him from the great white father. It is 
all I can give for we are very poor. " 

The Chippewas promised at this time not to war 
on the Sioux, and to hunt only in certain places. 



68 Our Minnesota 

to give up all allegiance to England and to deliver 
up four of their number who had killed four white 
people at Lake Pepin. Twenty-nine surrendered 
later but because their case was not taken up soon, 
they cut their way out of the log jail, returned 
to their tribes, and were never arrested. 

There was not very much trouble between the 
bands for some time after this, and the next treaty 
with the whites was made, twelve years later, in 
1837, at Fort Snelling when the jib ways ceded to 
the United States all the pine forests on the St. 
Croix River, and all the rivers that flow into it — 
a great tract of untold wealth for which the Indians 
received less than two cents an acre. 

The same year the Sioux went to Washington 
and ceded all their rights to all the land east of 
the Mississippi River. Many people, who were 
waiting to settle and were afraid that they might 
have trouble with the Indians' claims, began to 
settle the land on the instant. Before daylight 
the next morning after the news came that the 
paper was signed in Washington many people had 
staked out their claims and by sunset the land was 
dotted with the stakes of future citizens. 

In 1850 the Chippewas and the Sioux, who were 
still deadly enemies, were called to a council by 
Governor Ramsey to settle their quarrels. He had 
them meet at Fort Snelling so that he might have 



Treaties with the Indians 69 

the help of the cannon and the troops if they did not 
behave well. The council was held outside of the 
walls of the Fort and the Chippewas, who were 
always friendly to us, came early as though they 
were coming to a frolic. The Sioux, all dressed up 
and painted, suddenly appeared on the brow of the 
hill across the Minnesota River, and lashing their 
horses, rode down pell-mell as though to attack a 
deadly foe, but it was all just for show. They came 
into position and fired their guns into the air satis- 
fied that they had shown themselves off very well. 

The United States' infantry was stretched out in 
a long line, on opposite sides of which were the 
two tribes. The Sioux chief, "Sitting-in-a-Row, ** 
was six and one-half feet tall and looked very 
terrible, which pleased him and his warriors, who 
loved to have people afraid of them. A white flag 
was raised over the Fort and the pow-wow began. 

During the ceremonies the Sioux got up and left, 
marching off in a very haughty manner because 
they were insulted at the presence of ladies and said 
that they came to meet chiefs, not women. The 
ladies, who had come to see this wonderful sight 
of the two great tribes all in full war paint, meeting 
as friends, of course got up to leave, though "Hole- 
in-the-Day, " the great chief of the Chippewas, 
politely asked the women to come over to their 
side of the line and said, *'A11 welcome, angelic 



70 Our Minnesota 

smiles." When they insisted upon leaving after 
thanking him, he solemnly shook hands with each 
one of them and in that way made a great hit so 
the ladies at the Fort were the friends of the Chippe- 
was forever. The two tribes were well scolded by 
Governor Ramsey, who threatened them with all 
sorts of dreadful things if they were not good in the 
future, and then they all shook hands with one 
another and departed. 

The next year, 1851, came the greatest treaty 
ever made in Minnesota. There were two tribes 
of Sioux called the Lower and the Upper Sioux, who 
claimed all the land west of the Mississippi River 
and clear into Iowa though, of course, they really 
could not hold all of that property. The President 
of the United States considered this treaty so im- 
portant that he appointed Luke Lea, who was Com- 
missioner of Indian Affairs, and Mr. Ramsey 
special commissioners. The meeting for the Upper 
Sioux, who were divided into Sissetons and Wah- 
petons, was appointed at Traverse des Sioux on 
the Minnesota River, where there was quite a 
settlement for those early days and where there 
had been a mission for some time. There were 
three frame houses, one painted, a number of log 
huts, and beyond them the bark houses and tents 
of the Indians. 

The white men, of whom there were many, went 



Treaties with the Indians 71 

in a steamboat to the meeting place the last of June 
and waited until they were weary, for the Indians 
were slower than usual in coming. The Indians 
always think that they make themselves more im- 
portant by keeping people waiting, and were not 
taught as we are that it isn't polite nor businesslike 
to be late. 

During the days before they all gathered, they 
had many dances, a wedding ceremony was per- 
formed, and they expected to have a very grand 
festival on the Fourth of July, but on that morning 
the Reverend Robert Hopkins, the beloved minister 
of the Indians, was drowned and this cast a gloom, 
which lasted for many days, over the whole meeting. 

A great lodge was built for the ceremonies, in the 
form of a circle with four big aspen trees to support 
the top which was a lattice work all intertwined 
with leaves. It had four arched gates, all decor- 
ated with boughs, and was the work of Alexis 
Bailly, a trader. 

Before the pow-wow began, the Dakotas gave a 
great dance. There were a thousand of this tribe 
present and many of them took part. In the 
center of the lodge, they had a huge bark image of 
the Thunder Bird suspended from the roof and 
another one at each archway, while on one side was 
an Indian sorcerer who, with his face blackened and 
wearing a wig of green grass, directed the cere- 



^2 Our Minnesota 

monies. There were other images here and there, 
among them a great bark buffalo. The young 
men sprang through the openings and began to 
dance, going more and more quickly and circling 
faster and faster every minute. Every little while 
they would run out and then come jumping back 
through the arches. Now and then someone would 
rush in with wild cries and at one time during 
the dance, hundreds of girls and boys sprang in 
and joined the swaying circle. Finally several 
rifles were fired off, cutting down the bark figures. 
All the actors fell exhausted on the ground and the 
dance was over. 

Meanwhile more and more Indians kept coming 
and it was a wonder that the large number of cattle 
and stores of provisions, which the commissioners 
had brought with them, lasted so long as they did, 
for all the Indians had large families, who were 
always eating, and were always hungry. The Red 
Man believes in eating while there is food to eat, 
because he knows too well the time comes often 
when there is none. 

The Indians insisted on changing the treaty and 
haggled about little things until almost a month 
went by and then finally when everyone was in 
despair they accepted it, selling to the United States 
this wonderful tract of land, richer than any money 
in the world could express, and stretching from the 








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Indian Treaties 73 

Mississippi River far away to the westward land 
of promise. The treaty made the Indians promise 
to be at perpetual peace with the white man and 
set aside for the Indians a large tract which was 
for a long time the Yellow Medicine Indian Reser- 
vation, ten miles on each side of the Minnesota 
River from the Yellow Medicine River to Lake 
Traverse. The treaty promised enough money to 
move all their household goods and thirty thousand 
dollars for schools, mills, blacksmith shops and 
other things to help them in settled homes: beside 
a sum of money or "annuity" each year for fifty 
years to come. 

First, the commissioner read the treaty, and then 
the Indians; that is, it was read in English and 
translated into Sioux by the missionary, Reverend 
S. R. Riggs, in whom all the Indians had great faith. 
It was hard to get the first Indian to sign but at last, 
as the White Man had signed, one chief after 
another came and "touched the pen," which was 
their way of signing their names. The Pipes of 
Peace were smoked first by the white men, one by 
one, and then passed to the Indians. The Indians 
were then "pulled by the blanket" to the trader's 
paper, which they signed promising to pay all their 
debts. Some of them had owed the traders for 
thirty years, and you may be sure that they charged 
the debtor enough now. 



74 Our Minnesota 

After it was all over, the Sioux Indian Agent, 
Major Nathaniel McLean, gave them the presents 
which had been displayed during the whole month, 
but carefully guarded until they should sign the 
paper, and the sight of which, no doubt, had a great 
influence on the signing. 

In August, the Lower Sioux signed the treaty at 
Pilot Knob in Mendota under a great bower of oak 
trees. This treaty took even more patience and 
almost as long a time as the first one because the 
chiefs were so afraid, as well they might be, that 
they were not getting what they ought from the 
Whites. 

Most of the objection was carried on by Little 
Crow, the fifth, who had studied in an Indian school 
and knew more about the customs of the Whites than 
any of the other Indians. He was very much dressed 
up in a white shirt and collar, a gay neckerchief, 
his beautiful embroidered medicine bag on a cord 
around his neck, a red belt with a silver buckle, 
beaded trousers and moccasins. He was the hand- 
somest of all the Sioux Indians having long, black, 
curly hair, and a soft voice which is said to have 
been very pleasing, and an eloquence in speaking 
which made him a great orator among Indians and 
Whites. Little Crow was the son of Little Crow, 
whom he succeeded as chief, one of the first In- 
dians, probably, who used the "soldiers' thunder 



Indian Treaties 75 

tracks" and learned to plow under the direction 
of Dr. Williamson at the village of Kaposia on 
the Mississippi River, just below the Willow Brook 
State Fish Hatchery of today. Little Crow had 
a wonderful memory. His totem was the crow 
worn on his back just below his left shoulder- 
blade. While fighting for the chieftainship, he 
was wounded in both wrists though he was victori- 
ous. His people took him to the surgeon at Fort 
Snelling after the battle was over, where he was 
told that his life could be saved only by cutting off 
both of his hands. The Indians knew that a chief 
who could not use his hands would be useless to 
a fighting tribe, and so they took him home to 
his camp. After many weeks of careful nursing, 
his life and both his hands were saved, though his 
wrists were terribly deformed and it was only by this 
deformity, when he was killed fighting many years 
afterward, that he was known to be Little Crow. 

At last, however, after the patience of all the 
white men had almost given out and they had 
threatened over and over again to leave, sixty- 
five chiefs and warriors signed the paper, Little 
Crow proudly writing his name, the only one of 
them all who knew how. 

The terms of the Mendota treaty were about the 
same as those of Traverse des Sioux except that 
for these tribes was reserved what was later called 



^(> Our Minnesota 

the Redwood Reservation, ten miles on either side 
of the Minnesota River from a point near New Ulm 
to the Yellow Medicine River. They promised to 
move within two years though that part of the 
treaty was not carried out. 

When the Indians had at last signed they were 
paid thirty thousand dollars which had been owed 
them since the Treaty of 1837 and held back for 
fear they would never sign this one if they had all 
that money. 

They all came into St. Paul and spent their 
money right and left for all sorts of foolish things. 
A great many of them bought dogs because no 
Indian village is complete unless it has a large 
number of very quarrelsome snapping dogs, who 
are continually under foot, and make the coming 
of a stranger known all over the village as well 
as a disagreeable thing for the stranger. The In- 
dians bought a great many horses at this time and 
Reverend E. D. Neill, in his history, says that they 
were no judge of horses but usually bought one 
because they wanted some particular thing about 
it. For instance, if an Indian wanted a long-tailed 
horse, he bought the horse on account of the tail 
and not because there was anything else about the 
horse that made it worth while. If he wanted a 
white horse, that was the only thing he looked for 
and so the livery stable, the farmers and merchants 



Indian Treaties 77 

generally sold off all their poor, old broken-down 
nags, which the Indians serenely bought. This 
childish trait is true of all Indians. The story 
is told of an Indian village in Idaho where the 
people had just been paid off for their land, where 
one family had four baby carriages and all had at 
least two, and one of the Indians, because he took a 
fancy to it, bought a hearse and joyfully took his 
whole family home in it. 

After a few days of reckless buying and visit- 
ing in St. Paul, the Indians went off to their 
homes leaving most of their thirty thousand in the 
city behind them, so of course the treaty was con- 
sidered a good one by the people of St. Paul. 

These treaties, which we have spoken of, had 
to go to the Senate of the United States to be signed, 
and there a few changes were made, but finally the 
matter was ended and this is the way the Sioux 
came to live on reservations. 

But the Indians did not always keep their promise 
of perpetual peace either in regard to one another 
or the Whites, and there were many bitter fights 
between the Sioux and the Chippewas. Only a 
little while after the great treaty, when the Sioux 
Indians were moving from Kaposia to their new 
home on the Lower Reservation, near Fort Ridgely, 
they were attacked by eight Chippewas. The 
Sioux had almost all of them gone to their new 



78 Our Minnesota 

home and this band was made up of a number of 
older women and children with Little Crow leading 
them. They were jogging along in a straggling 
scattered column, some of the women walking with 
packs on their backs, others riding in the wagons, 
which were piled full of all sorts of odds and ends, 
many of them useless but dear to the heart of the 
Indian, who would not leave anything behind 
whether he was ever going to use it again or not. 
They had no thought of an enemy near when sud- 
denly from the bushes by the road, where they had 
been hiding and waiting for three days, their foe 
burst upon them. They were in plain sight of Fort 
Snelling and the soldiers rushed out to rescue them. 
After taking one scalp, the Chippewas escaped and 
only four of the eight warriors were caught and 
brought back to the guard house at the Fort. 
Little Crow insisted on revenge and in a few days 
came back to Fort Snelling determined to get the 
prisoners away, but the commandant would not 
give them up, and promised that they should be 
punivshed. However, they managed to escape later 
and Little Crow never forgot it. Although he had 
been a good friend to the white people up to this 
time, he brooded over this trouble and later we 
shall find that when the Indians declared war on 
the settlers. Little Crow, instead of standing by 
them, went with his own people. 



CHAPTER VI 

THE FIRST WHITE MAN 

Explorers 

The first white people who ever came to this 
country were French, who very early in the six- 
teenth century came up the St. Lawrence River 
and along the Great Lakes, and traded with the 
Indians who used to bring their furs as far as 
Quebec. Fond of exploring and hunting, they 
traveled with the Indians and lived in their camps, 
always along the streams and lakes and rivers, 
for canoeing was by far the easiest way to travel. 
Of course there were no roads, nor even trails, and 
the first white people who came here had to fell 
trees, hunt their food, and often sleep out in the 
open, undergoing all sorts of hardships to find the 
new land which was ever beyond them and was 
always a land of promise. 

Besides the explorers there were others who came 
here to teach the Christian religion to the heathen 
Indian, for no one did more to make it possible for 
the Indian to be peaceful and for the White Man 

79 



8o Our Minnesota 

to live here, than the devoted priests who came 
from France. So the chapel and the cross came to 
the Indian camp together with the explorer and 
trader. 

The great picture in our State House by Edwin 
Blashfield tells us this story. In the center is the 
great Manitou and before him an Indian brave and 
a squaw. The Indian brave with a scowl on his 
face holds haughtily back from the splendid figure 
of the Frenchman dressed in scarlet velvet, — a 
group of trappers, hunters, and explorers, be- 
hind him, pushing toward the Indian's canoe on 
one side. Opposite, the squaw, among a heathen 
people always bearing the burdens, holds out her 
hands in appeal toward the tall figure of a gentle- 
faced priest who holds above her head the cross. 
Behind him press forward the figures of other 
priests clad in sober gowns of gray and brown, and 
with faces marked by earnestness and patience. 
In the background rise the straight, tall, slender 
pine trees. 

Although the French claimed this land for more 
than two hundred years, they made no lasting 
settlements here, and so we have today no traces 
of them as a people excepting in the places they 
named and in the fact that they made the Indian 
a little more friendly to the white people. 

All the early stories of explorers west of Mon- 



The First White Man 8i 

treal tell of two young men who went into the 
wilds, far to the west, and there are accounts of 
these same young men bringing great canoe-loads 
of furs from beyond Lake Michigan. We did not 
know positively who they were until in one of the 
libraries in London, more than two hundred years 
after their voyage, the diary of one of them was 
found. It had been sold in London for waste paper 
long before, and it was only in 1885 that the Prince 
Society in Boston printed it. So you see we have 
known positively only a few years that the first 
white people who entered what is now Minnesota 
were Radisson, a bold, dashing, adventurous 
spirit, and his elder, milder, but a little more 
businesslike brother-in-law, Groseilliers. Between 
1654 and 1660 these two men went farther west 
than any white man had ever gone, for they said 
that they went as far as Hudson Bay. No per- 
mission had been given them from the Governor of 
Canada to make this trip and on their return to 
Montreal he reproved them. In anger they went to 
Boston, told about their trip to some merchants 
who became interested, and this is the way that 
Hudson Bay came to be controlled by the Eng- 
lish instead of the French. However, Radisson 
and Groseilliers quarreled with the English people, 
went back to Canada, and made two trips into 
the country which later became Minnesota. The 




S2 Our Minnesota 

first time they entered at the southeast corner of 
the State, not very far from where the city of 
Winona is today, and went up the Mississippi River 
as far as Prairie Island, between Red Wing and 
Hastings, which they called the First Landing 
Island. They spent a year with this place as head- 
quarters, really captives of the Sioux, who took 
them on their hunting trips, probably as far as 
Mille Lac. This was in 1655-56. 

The diary of Radisson is most interesting. He 
tells about the buffalo, antelope, pelicans, and 
shovel-nosed sturgeon, all of which were new to 
him, for during the fourteen months that the two 
men spent with this band, he seems to have traveled 
with the Indians and enjoyed life immensely while 
Groseilliers spent the time in getting corn and other 
supplies ready for the journey back. At last, he 
tells us, they have a great deal of beaver fur, which 
the diary calls *' castor"; are ready for the long 
trip and have persuaded five hundred Indians to 
go back to Montreal with them, so that they might 
be sure to get all the fur trade of this part of the 
country. When they are all ready to leave, the 
Indians hear that their enemies, the Hurons to 
the east, are on the war path and refuse to go. 
After urging, begging, and threatening the Sioux, 
Radisson stands up in a great assembly of 
eight hundred savage Indians and, pulling the 



The First White Man 83 

beaver skin from the shoulders of one of them, 
beats him with it, calls him a coward, and tells the 
Indians that if they won't come with him, he and 
Groseilliers will go alone. This bravery of his im- 
presses the Indians, so that they all come with him, 
and in this way came about the first trading ex- 
pedition of this part of the world. It must have 
been a splendid sight, this brigade of fifty canoes 
bearing hundreds of savage Indians, and bringing 
great loads of valuable beaver, as it voyaged toward 
Quebec. 

While Radisson was with the Sioux, he baptized 
many children, and the Indians who came east 
with him asked for presents and also for priests 
to teach their children "the way to heaven. " 

Within the next two years these two adventurers 
made a journey along the northern shore of Lake 
Superior, which Radisson describes, though, of 
course, he often makes mistakes in geography. 
Skirting the shore, he describes Isle Royale in 
this way: **In the end of that point, that goeth 
very farre, there is an isle, as I was told, all of 
copper. This I have not scene. They say that 
from the isle in a faire and calme wether, begin- 
ning from sun rising to sun sett, they come to a 
great island (Isle Royale), from whence they come 
the next morning to firme land att the other 
side." 



84 Our Minnesota 

During this trip they gave knives to the Indians, 
and from this we know that they probably traded 
with the Sioux Indians around Knife Lake, for the 
people who lived there were called Isanti, which 
means knife. Radisson says of the council there: 
"They are arrived, they satt downe. We made a 
place for us more elevated, to be more att our ease & 
to' appeare in more state. We borrowed their Calu- 
met, saying that we are in their countrey , and that it 
was not lawful! for us to carry anything out of our 
countrey. That pipe is of a red stone, as bigge as 
a fiste and as long as a hand. The small reede as 
long as five foot, in breadth, and of the thicknesse 
of a thumb. There is tyed to it the tayle of an 
eagle all painted over with severall coulours and 
open like a fan, or like that which makes a kind of 
a wheele when he shuts; below the toppe of the 
steeke is covered with feathers of ducks and other 
birds that are of a fine collour. We tooke the tayle 
of the eagle, and instead of it we hung 12 Iron bows 
in the same manner as the feathers weare, and a 
blade about it along the staffe, a hattchett planted 
in the ground, and that calumet over it, and all our 
armours about it uppon forks. Every one smoaked 
his pipe of tobacco, nor they never goe without it. 
During that while there was a great silence. We 
prepared some powder that was litle wetted, and 
the good powder was precious to us. Our Inter- 



The First White Man 85 

preter told them in our name, 'Brethren, we have 
accepted of your guifts.'" 

This journey was a very hard one, for the 
winter was severe, with heavy snow, and our 
travelers almost starved to death. The diary tells 
us a very sad tale of having to eat buffalo skins and 
of living for a while almost entirely on soup made 
from bittersweet. Five hundred of the people 
with whom they camped died of starvation, but 
in the Spring things were happier and two great 
councils were held, in which the Indians promised 
peace and friendship to the French. Our adven- 
turers made a six weeks' visit to the friendly 
Indian tribes, going across Minnesota as far as 
the Red River Valley, where they made a treaty 
and returned to Lake Superior, coming back from 
their long journey with sixty canoes loaded with 
furs, and what was even more important, the 
friendship of the Indians. 

Radisson tells us many interesting things in his 
diary which gives a very vivid picture of his life, 
for he talks a great deal about himself, and his 
story is an exciting one to read, although we are 
afraid sometimes he imagines things that never 
happened. We read here for the first time about 
blueberries and white fish, and how he hid ducks 
in hollow trees to keep them from the eagles, how 
he hated the food of the Indians until they gave 



86 Our Minnesota 

him hulled corn, and how the Indians made pemmi- 
can which could be kept and carried a long distance. 

Many things which might have made his writing 
more worth while he doesn't speak of, nor does he 
mention the names of places which would have 
helped very much in later explorations. We are 
afraid that he kept these things to himself because 
he didn't want other people to profit by his trip, 
and so he didn't help the world nearly so much as 
he might have, if he had been more generous about 
his discoveries. But he will always be remembered 
from the fact that he was one of the people who 
founded the Hudson Bay Company, and that he 
was the first white man to see Minnesota, though, 
like Columbus, he never knew the importance of 
his discoveries. 

The next white person who came here was Daniel 
Graysolon Du Luth, who explored all the country 
between Lake Superior and Mille Lac which, you 
remember, was the early home of the Sioux, and 
out of which they were driven by the Ojibways. 
He held a great council of the Indians near the 
place where the city of Duluth is today, and in 
1679 built a fort near Pigeon River, the place which 
later was to become so important to the traders. 

He was the first one to come to the Mississippi 
River from Lake Superior, and coming down the 
rivers went west as far as Mille Lac, on the way 



The First White Man 87 

discovering Father Hennepin, who was a captive of 
the Sioux. Du Luth was considered a very great 
man by the Indians and won their affection and fear, 
so he was able to rescue Hennepin, whom he took 
with him as a guide, planting the flag with the lilies 
of France farther west than it ever had been before. 

He returned with Hennepin to Quebec, where he 
reported many discoveries and where he tried to 
have liquor forbidden to the Indians, for he felt that 
it would do a great deal of harm, as it undoubtedly 
did. 

Just before this the Governor of Canada had 
sent a man on an exploring trip farther south than 
the ones we have been talking about. This man 
was Robert Cavelier, commonly known as LaSalle, 
a powerful, elegant figure in this new land, admired 
by the Indians for his velvet and gold lace, and 
feared by them as much, for he was the first one 
whom the Indians had seen with so many helpers 
who had ** spirit irons. " 

With him was Hennepin, a Franciscan monk, of 
the Recollect Order, who, though a Frenchman, had 
lived many years in Canada. He was very anxious 
to be a great explorer, for he was a natural adven- 
turer, and tells us himself in his diary how he used 
to listen behind doors to hear people talk of ad- 
ventures, and that he had always wanted to go 
into the wilds. He had already been a missionary 



88 Our Minnesota 

among the Indians in western New York, so it was 
natural that he should be chosen for this trip. 

One hundred years before our independence the 
little party, led by LaSalle, stopped at Niagara 
River, where they worked for six months, build- 
ing a boat which they towed to Lake Erie. On 
their way west they visited Mackinaw, where 
LaSalle, dressed in gold lace and scarlet, held a 
council of Indians, whom he told of the glories of 
France. From this place they sent back a vessel 
loaded with thousands of dollars' worth of furs, but 
it was never heard from again and was probably 
lost in one of those gales which still make Lake 
Erie dangerous. With four canoes LaSalle and his 
party skirted the strange coasts of Lake Michigan, 
camped on the wild shores, and at times almost 
starved to death, once finding a buffalo mired in a 
great marsh, just in time to save their lives, and at 
another time reaching an Indian village, deserted 
for the yearly hunt, but where they found some 
Indian corn. When they arrived at Peoria in 
Illinois, LaSalle ordered Hennepin to go up the 
Mississippi River while he himself went south, 
reaching, in 1682, the mouth of the Great River. 
Hennepin was delighted with his new adventure 
because he was sure that he could find a way to go 
from the Mississippi to Japan or China through 
"the frozen sea." These were the places that all 



The First White Man 89 

the European people expected to find and thought 
they had found on their trips to America. They 
all thought that these countries were full of gold 
and silver and precious jewels, and many of the 
early explorers believed that all the rivers flowing 
into the Mississippi from the west would take them 
clear across the continent. 

So in February, 1680, Hennepin started with his 
party in a canoe and they had an easy time until 
they came to a place where the floating ice kept 
them for a whole month, so it was April before they 
began their hard trip up the great river. They had 
been given goods worth about two hundred and fifty 
dollars for presents to the Indians. Hennepin him- 
self received ten knives, twelve bodkins, a little 
tobacco, two pounds of black and white glass beads, 
and some needles, all things which the Indians 
would prize. 

There were in the one canoe Picard Du Gay and 
Michel Ako who was the leader of the expedition, 
and Hennepin who was its historian. When they 
reached the southern border of Minnesota, after 
a hard journey, they were taken captive by a 
band of Sioux, who took them along on their 
wanderings. Hennepin tells us a great many 
stories of his captivity, especially of the hard time 
he had trying to say his prayers, for the Indians 
thought he was conjuring with Manitou against 



90 Our Minnesota 

them. The whole Indian village had a great 
powwow over the captives whom they almost de- 
cided to kill, and spared only because they promised 
to help them trade with the French. The Indians 
at this time were all trappers and hunters and 
thought that the furs, which they could get so 
easily and any amount of which the French would 
take, were perfectly useless, and that the trinkets 
which they traded for, were worth a great deal. 
They were very much impressed with the guns of 
the white men, which they called Maza wakan, or 
"spirit irons." They took Hennepin and his party 
north, camped at Lake Pepin, and in nineteen days 
came near where St. Paul now is. Today we can 
take that trip in two hours. 

After leaving the Mississippi River they went 
over to Mille Lac where the captives were very 
kindly treated and where Hennepin, who was worn 
out and ached in every part of his body, was given 
a steam bath. He was made to lie down on a bear 
skin, and his feet and legs were rubbed with the 
grease of wildcats; then the chiefs ''wept on his 
head," which was the way in which the Sioux 
showed their feelings, and after they had wept for a 
quarter of an hour, they took him into a little 
lodge, where they poured water on red-hot stones. 
Hennepin says that he fainted from the heat and 
thought he was going to die, but after he had 



The First White Man 91 

been treated in this way several times, he felt much 
better. He was covered with a robe made of ten 
large beaver skins, trimmed with porcupine quills; 
then the wives of the chiefs took care of him, 
showing that he was adopted into their tribe. 

He tells us a great many interesting things, how 
the Indians wondered at his compass, whose needle 
they thought he turned by conjuring, and wouldn't 
touch an iron pot, which he carried, because it had 
feet like a lion. He had to hang it in a tree before 
anyone would come near his lodge. 

He baptized many Indian babies and learned a 
good deal about the country, although his geo- 
graphy was pretty mixed, but you must remember 
that he didn't have the beautiful maps that we all 
have today. His great discovery was St. Anthony 
Falls, which he describes as forty or fifty feet high 
and he tells of an island in the very center, which 
shows us that the water must have worn away the 
rock for many feet back, as the island today is far 
from the falls. In a tree nearby he engraved the 
cross, and the arms of France, and he named the 
beautiful cataract for his patron saint, Anthony 
of Padua. We may imagine his surprise and joy 
at seeing the majestic fall of water as it curls over 
the rocky ledge and plunges into the Mississippi 
River. It is impressive today, surrounded on all 
sides by the city with its mills and factories with 



92 Our Minnesota 

their ceaseless whir. What it must have been to 
those tired travelers, where there were no sounds 
but the roar of the water and the songs of the 
birds, and nothing to detract from the green of the 
woods and the white of the little Indian trail 
glistening on one side! 

When Du Luth found Father Hennepin, he was 
really in slavery and was made to plant, seed, and 
till the ground, which was considered humiliating 
because it was woman's work. He had little to 
eat, only smoked fish and wild rice, six times a 
week. But after all, from what he says in his own 
book, the Indians appear to have been fond of him 
and to have treated him very well. 

Father Hennepin published his travels and the 
first time told many important things in that diary, 
which the Indians thought was a spirit book. 
Because he had made a sort of dictionary of the 
Dakota language from talking with the Indian 
children, the people thought that the book told 
him what to say. The second time he published 
his travels he imagined much, and was censured 
by the King of France, because he didn't tell the 
truth. Do you wonder when he saw so many 
things which no white man had ever seen before 
that he got them somewhat mixed? Hennepin 
County is named for him, but the thing for which 
he will be remembered always is that he was the 



The First White Man 93 

first white man who saw and named the living 
water of the great falls. 

We shall find Nicholas Perrot more a trader than 
explorer, but we should think of him among these 
people, because he wrote the first state paper which 
ever mentioned the land which was to be Minnesota. 
In 1689 from Fort Saint Antoine, on the Wis- 
consin side of Lake Pepin, he issued a proclamation 
in which, in a lordly way, he took possession of all 
the lands of the Dakotas. This was the claim on 
this part of the world which France held until 1763. 

With Perrot at this time, and also a signer of the 
paper, was Pierre Le Sueur who made a canoe trip 
up the Mississippi, and explored from Lake Pepin 
to the mouth of the St. Croix River, finding caves 
of bears and telling about rattlesnakes, which he 
says have teeth like pikes, with a sack of poison 
in each tooth. He met Indians here, who "wept 
on his head" for a quarter of an hour, and with 
whom he smoked a hatchet pipe. 

In 1695 he came back and established a fort at 
Prairie Island, a few miles below Hastings, in order 
to keep peace between the Sioux and the Chippewas. 
This is the same island which Radisson tells of 
forty years before, and it is hard to realize that this 
was long before anyone had discovered the mouth 
of the Mississippi River. 

Le Sueur discovered and explored the Minnesota 



94 Our Minnesota 

River, which he called the St. Peter, possibly 
naming it after himself or his patron saint, Saint 
Pierre. Near the mouth of the Blue Earth River, 
a few miles from Mankato, he thought he discovered 
a great copper mine. The same year he went to 
Montreal taking an O jib way chief and the first 
Dakota chief who ever visited Canada. When 
Frontenac, the great French governor, met these 
Indians, Tioscate, the Dakota, dressed in full war 
paint, wept on him and laid down before him an 
otter skin and a beaver skin, begging him for 
*' irons." Then he gave Frontenac twenty-two 
arrows, one for each of the villages, which he 
promised should trade with no one but the French. 

Le Sueur was the greatest of all the French 
explorers because he had more influence with the 
Indians than any of the others, but most of all 
because we may be sure that he tells us the truth, 
and you know history that is not true is worth 
nothing. Le Sueur helped to make an important 
map which was a great help to those who came after 
him and we shall hear of him later. 

The first man who came from our own country, 
even though it then belonged to England, was 
Jonathan Carver, who was born in Connecticut. 
They tried to make a doctor of him but he didn't 
like it, and thought he would rather go exploring. By 
this time the war between France and England was 



The First White Man 95 

over and what is now the part of Minnesota east 
of the Mississippi River had been won by England, 
as the French had been made to give up their 
claims, so Carver came into English territory when 
he came to Minnesota. This was just ten years 
before the Declaration of Independence, so it is an 
easy date to remember, 1766. 

Carver came through Michigan and Wisconsin 
and up the river, of course in a canoe. He poled a 
canoe into the St. Peter, now the Minnesota River, 
as far as New Ulm, searching for the Northwest 
Passage. He was the first one to notice the mounds, 
which he was sure were ancient fortifications or 
earthworks. He described the great cave named 
for him at St. Paul, and said that it was covered 
with curious signs all over the inside and he told 
about a great many places which are now very well 
known. You remember, he saw the Indian bones 
buried in what is now Indian Mounds Park. He 
made a trip to St. Anthony Falls, of which he 
was the first person to make a sketch, which was 
engraved later. 

Carver used up the goods which he had brought 
with him for presents to the Indians and for more 
was obliged to travel as far as Grand Portage, the 
oldest and most eastern settlement of Minnesota, 
where he found that the traders had no goods to 
spare, and he was obliged to return home. 



96 Our Minnesota 

The first explorer from the United States was 
Lieutenant Zebulon Pike, who came, you remember, 
in 1805 to expel the English traders from our 
country, and who went as far as Cass Lake, visit- 
ing many posts and demanding from the Indians 
and the English all their medals and flags. His 
party had a very hard winter and when the ice 
moved out the men celebrated with a dance. We 
can understand how they felt at the thought of 
home after all they had endured. 

After this the United States Government thought 
it was wise to build a fort in this country, and so 
the war department ordered Major S. H. Long to look 
for a place to locate the fort. He came up here in 
18 1 7 and left Prairie du Chien in a six-oared skiff, 
spending thirteen days on a trip as far as St. 
Anthony Falls. He took breakfast one morning 
at Carver's Cave, chose the beautiful spot where 
Fort Snelling now stands, and camped near the 
falls about where the University now is. Six years 
later he made another trip for the United States 
Government, which sent him with a party to 
explore, make maps, study the geology, geography, 
and plant and flower life of this region. This was 
the first time that the United States Government 
gained any information about our part of the 
country. The party passed Winona and Red Wing, 
which were Indian villages; stopped to see Red 



The First White Man 97 

Rock, so venerated by the Indians, and described an 
Indian cemetery, where Indian Mounds Park now is. 

From their description we learn that Little Crow 
at this time had moved the village Kaposia up 
the river to about where the St. Paul railroad 
yards are today. The party went up the Minnesota 
River to Lake Traverse, crossed to the Red River 
and went to Pembina, then with canoes they 
traveled what today is the northern boundary of 
Minnesota, taking six months for the trip, and 
giving reports to the United States Government 
on everything they found. 

With Major Long was an Italian by the name of 
Beltrami who had much to do with the discovery 
of the Mississippi River, and so we shall read about 
him when we talk about that. 

The three people, whom we shall speak of next, 
were not early explorers because they came long 
after this region was settled, but they were ex- 
plorers, just the same. 

In 1835 two geologists named Featherstonhaugh 
and Mather came to study the rocks and their 
formation along the valley of the Minnesota River, 
which they called Minnay-Sotar. They went from 
Fort Snelling through the southwestern part of 
Minnesota to Big Stone Lake and Lake Traverse, 
and gained very important knowledge for the 
government. 



9^ Our Minnesota 

The same year an artist by the name of George 
Catlin came to Fort Snelling to make sketches of 
the Indians. He made a great many wonderful 
pictures, and later published a book illustrated 
with his Indian pictures and landscapes, now in 
the National Museum in Washington. He went up 
and down the river three times, — in a canoe, in a 
dugout, and in a steamboat, and traveled on horse- 
back to the pipe stone quarries,, and with each trip 
he was more enthusiastic about the place. 

One of the greatest, as well as one of the last of 
the explorers who came here before we were a 
State, was Joseph N. Nicollet, a distinguished as- 
tronomer. You must be careful not to confuse his 
name with that of Jean Nicolet, who came to Canada 
in 1618, and was the first white man who ever visited 
Wisconsin. Joseph Nicollet was born in France, 
which he left under a cloud, coming to the United 
States poor and unfortunate, but with a wonderful 
mind and a fine education, which made him a place 
just as soon as he had a chance to show them. He 
was so poor that he had to borrow instruments 
from the United States Government when he first 
came here, in 1835. He spent most of that winter 
with Mr. Sibley at Mendota, and although he was 
delicate and not used to the cold of our frontier 
life, he worked hard all the time. 

Sibley speaks of him as one of the most delightful 



The First White Man 99 

men he ever met. He did such valuable work while 
here, that he was engaged by the United States 
to explore the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers, 
and he made a most wonderful map, which was a 
great help to the government. While he was 
surveying in the southern part of the State, he 
passed a lake in Freeborn County, which he named 
Albert Lea, from a man who was also a government 
surveyor. Nicollet's map shows all the little rivers 
which flow into the Mississippi and which he was 
the first one to trace. Nicollet County as well as the 
town is named for him. 

MISSIONS 

Side by side with the early traders and trappers 
from France came another explorer, one who loved 
the wilds, sought adventure, and endured uncom- 
plainingly the hardships of frontier life. This was 
the devoted priest, who looked for other things 
than simple adventure and what it brought in its 
train, for he spent strength, time, and life itself to 
bring the cross to the Red Man. 

You remember that in the dawn of our history, 
Radisson told of baptizing children during his stay 
on Prairie Island, and of the heathen Indians. The 
story of a people knowing nothing of God touched 
Ren6 Menard, a Jesuit priest at Quebec, who 



loo Our Minnesota 

offered to go himself to the shores of Lake Superior 
to convert the Indians. He was white-haired and 
frail, but his spirit was strong and the idea of 
danger and hardship was welcome to him. 

The night before he left for the far West, he 
wrote a letter which has come down to us, in which 
he said he did not expect to return, but felt that his 
life was well given if it took Christianity to the 
heathen. The aged man landed on the shores of 
Lake Superior with several Indians and a compan- 
ion named Guerin. There they passed a terrible 
winter, almost starving to death, their food part of 
the time being broth made from a kind of snail 
which they found on the shore, and sometimes of 
a mixture of pounded fish bones and acorns. They 
were on the verge of starvation when spring came, 
bringing food in the shape of wild birds, and they 
became strong enough to start out again to find 
the people still farther west. 

The two white men were deserted by their Indian 
guides, and one day the old priest was lost in the 
forest and no trace of him could be found, although 
the loyal Guerin searched long and faithfully and 
could not bear to give up the hope that he might 
find him. Some time afterward his camp kettle 
was found in a Sauk lodge and his robe and prayer 
book were seen among the Dakotas, who thought 
they were wakan. 



The First White Man loi 

Claude Allouez followed the same hard path as 
Menard, founding in 1 665 the ' ' Mission of the Holy 
Spirit" at La Pointe on Madeline Island, one of a 
group on the south shore of Lake Superior called 
"The Apostles." He seems to have had a great 
deal of influence over the Indian tribes who were 
hostile to one another, and visited the many tribes 
scattered all about that country, meeting the Sioux 
at Fond du Lac in Minnesota at the mouth of the 
St. Louis River near the spot where Duluth stands 
today, and he longed to see the great river on whose 
banks they lodged. He is the first to call it by its 
Indian name Messipi. 

Allouez had a hard time with his fierce parish- 
ioners, and at one time exclaimed, ''Would that all 
these nations loved God as they fear the French." 
He became discouraged after spending several years 
of hard work with so little to show for it, so in 
1669 his place was taken by the famous Marquette, 
who built many missions from Michigan westward. 
The little church at La Pointe is still called by his 
name and is the oldest monument of missionary 
work in our north country, although it is not in 
our own State. 

Father Hennepin seems to have been a very 
practical sort of missionary, teaching his captors 
to plow and plant, taking care of sick children as 
well as baptizing the little ones, mourning the loss 



102 Our Minnesota 

of his portable altar and cassock and complaining 
that he couldn't say his prayers in peace. 

The Indians called the early Fathers "Black 
Blankets, " and loved the vestments and forms of 
Christianity, though it was very hard to teach 
them much about brotherhood, for an Indian's 
idea of revenge, or paying back an injury, is as 
natural to him as breathing. 

The first mission building on Minnesota soil 
was put up in 1727 on the shore of Lake Pepin near 
Frontenac and was called the "Mission of Saint 
Michael the Archangel." In about twenty years 
it was given up, as were many of the western 
missions, and trading posts, because of the great 
outbreak of the Sac and Fox Indians. 

Afterward for years there was war between the 
French and English, so it is very hard to know how 
much the early missions did for the Indians for 
almost all the traces we have of the early Fathers 
are names of saints which they gave to so many of 
our rivers and early settlements. 

AMERICAN 

The year after Fort Snelling was built Mrs. 
Snelling and Mrs. Clark, the mother of Charlotte 
Van Cleve, started a Sunday School in the base- 



The First White Man 103 

ment of the officers' quarters for the children at the 
Fort. 

The first sermon that was ever preached in 
English in the northwest was by Mr. Morse, the 
father of the inventor of the telegraph, who was at 
Mackinaw, and through him a boarding school was 
started for all the Indian children in the Northwest 
Territory. There were a garden, trades for the boys 
and housework for the girls and many Indian 
children were there, at one time over two hundred. 
This was the school where a good many of the 
people in the territory received the only education 
they had. 

In 1833 Mr. Boutwell (the same one who named 
Lake Itasca) went to Leech Lake and founded the 
first American mission west of the Mississippi living 
there among the Pillager Indians, the fiercest of all 
the tribes in the northwest. When he reached the 
camp, all the men of the tribe had gone on their 
yearly hunting trip and so he started work with 
the women and children. The women were very 
friendly and he had a good time with the children, 
who at first ran if he looked at them, then began 
shyly peeking into his tent and finally clustered 
about him and became his firm friends. They all 
wanted to learn to sing and to read. When the 
braves returned from hunting, they came to listen 
to him, a few of them laughing and annoying him, 



104 Our Minnesota 

but most of them silent and interested. He lived 
among these people for a long time, marrying a 
Chippewa girl who became a Christian. 

Between 1830 and 1849, when the territory was 
organized, there were many missions established 
for Indians and they were the only schools the 
Indian children had. These, together with the 
traders' settlements, were the beginning of civilized 
life in this western country. 

The missionaries did not preach so much as they 
taught, singing with the children, telling them 
stories, and teaching the women to wash and to 
sew and the men to farm. 

In 1834 two brothers named Pond came to Fort 
Snelling and later moved to Lake Calhoun, where 
there were a few lodges of Dakotas. The Pond 
brothers taught and preached and started several 
missions in the territory. 

Samuel Pond was six feet tall and the Indians 
thought that he was a great man for they let him 
teach them to plow. His thirteen children grew up 
among the Indians. The year after the Pond brothers 
came, the Reverend Dr. Williamson, who was also 
a doctor of medicine, with a band of helpers, among 
them two teachers, came to this region. One of 
them, Mr. Stevens, settled at Lake Harriet where 
he started a school with six Indian children, all 
Sioux, and later the school grew to twenty-five. 



The First White Man 105 

He wrote several books, among them a speller, 
with which Mr. Pond helped him. He settled 
down among his people and was devoted to them. 
He used to lead service at Fort Snelling and with 
Dr. Williamson conducted the first communion 
service ever held there. 

Dr. Williamson started a mission at Lac qui 
Parle where he translated a part of the Bible into 
the Dakota language and where he was joined by- 
Mr. Riggs who had been at the Lake Harriet 
Mission since 1837. These missionaries with the 
help of the Indians translated several books into 
the Dakota language as well as writing the^text 
books which were used in the mission schools. The 
Dakota dictionary, which scholars still use, was 
edited by Mr. Riggs. 

At the earnest request of Little Crow, Dr. Wil- 
liamson moved to his village at Kaposia where he 
lived until going with the band when they went to 
their reservation on the Minnesota River. After 
the break-up of the Sioux band on account of the 
massacre in 1862, Dr. Williamson was asked what 
he would do when they were moved out of the 
State and he said, ''Of course I shall follow my 
people wherever they go," and he did go west with 
the Indians and ministered to them for several 
years. 

At Lac qui Parle in 184 1 Mr. Riggs and Dr. 



io6 Our Minnesota 

Williamson built a brick church with a steeple and 
a bell, and this was the first church bell to sound 
across the waters of the upper Mississippi. These 
two men established^ mission at Traverse des Sioux 
which lasted until 1854 when it was "overtaken by 
the whites, " and together they lived near Yellow 
Medicine where they had a large mission station. 
There were here a boarding house for Indian chil- 
dren, a school-house, a church with a steeple and 
a bell, a wonderful place for the Indians who loved 
novelties. 

They believed that citizenship and religion should 
go together and formed what was called the "Hazel- 
wood Republic. " No one could be a member of it 
who didn't obey certain rules. They had to cut 
off their hair and wear white men's clothes and 
were supposed to belong to the church, though 
they didn't have to do this. The president of the 
republic was "The Man Who Shoots Metal as He 
Walks," and John Otherday was a member, both 
of them the best friends of the white people in the 
massacre of 1862, and they helped many people to 
escape from the Indians. These Indians had 
helped to rescue the women after the Spirit Lake 
massacre in Iowa, and not one of the mission 
Indians joined with their bands in the war. 

The Indians were very hard to Christianize. 
They had no idea of law or order. They didn't 



The First White Man 107 

believe in work because they thought it belonged 
to the^squaws, and the ** dignity of labor" meant 
nothing to them. They didn't understand that 
stealing was wrong, for they had everything in 
common except their guns, their traps and their 
blankets, and thought a religion a poor thing which 
didn't practise the brotherhood it preached, for 
the missionaries kept their own belongings and 
punished those who took them away. It is likely 
that very few of the Indians really understood what 
Christianity meant. 

But the children were taught the new religion 
and when they grew up they were more peaceful, 
lived better lives and helped others to do the same. 
We can see this today on the Leech Lake Reserva- 
tion, where the Blanket Indians, as the heathen 
Indians are called, live in dirty, little, untidy one- 
roomed houses and are barbarians even now, while 
almost all the Christian Indians live in good frame 
houses with several neat and tidy rooms, and with 
little garden patches about them. They are self- 
respecting and well-thought of. 

The early missionaries left a great treasure in 
their letters and diaries, which are the best histories 
we have of early times here and without which we 
should know much less of our early history. 

In 1839 Bishop Loras came up to Fort Snelling, 
which was a part of his great diocese, and arranged 



io8 Our Minnesota 

to send a missionary priest and establish a church 
as soon as possible. So when the river was open 
the next spring, the Reverend Lucien Gal tier, 
who had come from France two years before with 
Bishop Loras, came up to take charge of this new 
parish. It is said of Father Gal tier "that he had 
the face of a Caesar and the heart of a Madonna." 
He was a man who would have been widely known 
if he had stayed in city life, yet to the people of 
St. Paul he did gain fame, for not only did he 
build the first church in that city, which was then a 
little collection of straggling log houses, but he 
also gave the name of the little log church to the 
settlement, which before this had been called after 
an Indian trader whose nickname was "Pig's Eye." 

Father Galtier lived first at Mendota in the 
house of Scott Campbell with whose family he 
stayed for a month, when he found a room which he 
used for church, parlor and kitchen, making a little 
altar of rough boards, which was folded up and 
covered, excepting during service. Over a year he 
lived there in a house belonging to J. B. Fairbault, 
his parish being six families and some of the soldiers 
at the Fort. 

When the settlers, driven away from Red River, 
were moved off the reservation, they went to what 
is now St. Paul and Father Galtier needed a 
church, so that he might hold service for them. 




Father Galtier's Chapel of St. Paul. Built in 184 1 
(By courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society) 



The First White Man 109 

Two of the earliest comers, Vetal Guerin and 
Benjamin Gervais each gave the church a piece of 
his claim, on a spot between Cedar and Minnesota 
streets and near the levee. Eight men helped to 
build Father Galtier's little chapel in a grove of 
oak trees, where are now business blocks with rail- 
road trains constantly thundering by, and back of it 
there was a tamarack swamp where, later, the 
second cathedral was built. 

After the place had been cleared the little church, 
built of rough logs fastened with wooden pins, 
was put up. The roof of bark-covered slabs, given 
by a mill owner in Stillwater, was brought up the 
river by steamboat and hauled up the hill by hand 
ropes. The slabs were used for floor and benches, 
and the chapel, when finished, was twenty-five 
feet long, eighteen wide, and ten high. The only 
way in which it differed from the other cabins was 
that it had a little cross over the door. 

It took but a few days to build, and it was dedi- 
cated in November, 1841, Father Gal tier naming 
it Saint Paul, because, he said, it was near to Saint 
Peter, where his other parish was. 

The first congregation was made up of a few 
Swiss, a few French voyageurs and traders, a few 
Irish adventurers and Sioux Indians. 

When Father Galtier left this parish, after 
four years of work, his place was filled by Father 



no Our Minnesota 

Ravoux, a very earnest man and always busy, 
converting many Indians. He was the only priest 
in Minnesota until Bishop Cretin came in 1851. 
The chapel was soon enlarged and Henry Rice gave 
it a bell from the Argo, a steamer sunk in the river 
in 1847. 

In five months after Bishop Cretin arrived he 
had begun a large brick building for the second 
Cathedral and bishops' home, which he did not 
live to see finished. When this building could be 
used, the old chapel was taken as a school by the 
pioneer nuns, the Sisters of Saint Joseph, who came 
in 1 85 1, and lived in the log shanty which had been 
the Bishop's home. 

Their school had fourteen pupils in the beginning, 
and the first holiday was spent in stuffing up the 
holes between the logs, which let in the daylight as 
well as the cold. 

In 1853 Henry Rice gave the land to Bishop 
Cretin for Saint Joseph's Hospital but it wasn't 
finished when some of the boat hands brought 
cholera to St. Paul, in 1854, and the old chapel was 
then used for a hospital. 

Afterward it was again used as a chapel until it 
was no longer needed. It was taken down and the 
logs moved to the grounds of Saint Joseph's 
Academy, to be rebuilt and kept as a sacred relic, 
but the men working on the place, not knowing 



The First White Man 



III 



what the logs were to be used for, burned them and 
left nothing to show for the first cathedral, but 
much to feel and much to think of. 

This was a small beginning but that beginning 
grew until today the great cathedral crowns the 
hill in the capital city, which itself grew from the 
"Upper Landing" on the Mississippi River. 




Joe Rolette 



CHAPTER VII 

MINNESOTA, THE GOPHER STATE 

The people of the United States have always 
been fond of nicknames and almost every State in 
the Union has one, often coming from some hap- 
pening which has little to do with history and of 
which few people know the origin. The destructive 
little animal from which our State gets its name, is 
very plentiful here and always has been, unfor- 
tunately for the farmer. In the early days some- 
one suggested that we should call Minnesota the 
Beaver State, its near neighbors Michigan and Wis- 
consin being the Wolverine and the Badger, but the 
name was not popular. Although many people 
objected to the word Gopher, thinking that it was 
not dignified enough for the coming great State, in 
which all the early settlers believed, it was used as a 
campaign cartoon in 1857 and has stuck to us ever 
since. However, we shall think of it only as sug- 
gesting the nvunber of wild animals belonging in 
Minnesota. 

Of all the people who came into our State, 

112 



Minnesota, the Gopher State 113 

the trapper and fur trader were the most daring 
and the most picturesque. The Indians always 
lived here, the settlers came for homes, but the 
explorers alone, most of them trappers and traders, 
came for love of the wilds and of adventure. 
Whether the owner of an outfit, a powerful com- 
pany agent, a voyageur who handled the canoes or 
a coureur des hois (a guide through the woods), 
all faced the dangers of climate, of wild animals, of 
starvation and of hostile Indians. 

The diaries of these early adventurers, even when 
they simply give dry entries of business details, 
speak of many a romance, for there was not one of 
them who did not meet danger and face death by 
starvation, cold, or wild beasts day after day. 

The French were the first people who came here 
to get the furs which France, with her love of finery 
and beautiful apparel, cared for more than any 
other people; but the French came too, because 
they were daring and gallant and fond of adventure. 
Long before there were any other white people here, 
Minnesota was dotted with trading posts and little 
camps of which there remain no traces today, ex- 
cepting a name or a story; or here and there a 
neglected clearing. 

Our old friends, Radisson and Groseilliers, were 
the first traders who touched Lake Superior, com- 
ing into what was later this State a century before 

8 



114 Our Minnesota 

the Revolutionary War, returning to Quebec with 
boatloads of furs worth forty thousand dollars. 

Du Luth, perhaps, built the first trading post at 
the head of Lake Superior as early as 1679, and 
was one of the traders who tried always to help the 
Indians, hating to see whisky given to them. 

Our friend, Nicholas Perrot, was sent west to pre- 
vent the Indians from trading with the Hudson Bay 
Company, which you remember was English. His 
fort was on the east shore of Lake Pepin, but as 
early as 1689 he built Fort Perrot on the Minnesota 
side of the lake, and had a very large trade there, 
for the Indians were fond of him and he had a good 
influence over them. 

Le Sueur's trading post on Prairie Island lasted 
only a little while and his mines like a good many 
others, didn't turn out well, so he gave up his 
western venture. 

In 1699 Louis XIV, the King of France, recalled 
all the French traders to Lower Canada and the fur 
trade almost died out during the long wars between 
the French and the English but revived again when 
England gained all the French land in 1763. 

It was through Radisson and Groseilliers, you 
remember, that the Hudson Bay Company was 
formed, the powerful company, which at one time, 
handled all of the fur trade of this continent. They 
made a great deal of money, their field being north 



Minnesota, the Gopher State 115 

to Hudson Bay and even farther, and they con- 
trolled all the trade in the Northwest until after the 
independence of the United States. In 1787 the 
Northwest Company was formed with its center 
at Montreal. This company gained control of all 
the fur trade throughout Minnesota and westward. 

In 1809 the American Fur Company was organ- 
ized with John Jacob Astor at its head and it traded 
in furs as far as the Pacific Ocean. In 181 6 the 
United States forbade the English companies to 
trade with the Indians within our border, you 
remember, because we feared that they were teach- 
ing the Indians bad habits which we didn't want 
to encourage so John Jacob Astor bought all the 
** factories," as they were called, on our side of 
the line, keeping, though, the traders and trappers 
who knew the business. This made England and 
the United States rivals in the fur trade. Five 
other great companies were formed and spread all 
over the north though the Hudson Bay Company 
was still the greatest as well as the oldest, and 
in 1 82 1 the Northwest Company united with it. 
The companies gave licenses to only those whom 
they pleased and lorded it over their domains like 
kings, but now the law was made that no one 
might trade with the Indians without a license from 
the United States. 

The traders without licenses were sent out of the 



ii6 Our Minnesota 

country and the United States sent to Fort Snel- 
ling an Indian agent, Major Taliaferro, who had 
charge of this business. 

So long as the Hudson Bay route was open only 
two months out of the year, it was found easier to 
ship the furs south from Pembina by way of the 
Red River to Mendota and later to St. Paul 
which became the second market in America, the 
most important being St. Louis. The Red River 
carts drawn by oxen were used for many years, re- 
placing the dog trains on the overland trip, but it 
was found that rivers went faster than the oxen 
and so they were in turn given up. 

St. Paul is still a center for pelts and hides, 
but not as formerly, for the pelts of those wild and 
rare animals which once made it one of the fur 
markets of the world, and though in the north- 
western part of the State there are still many 
animals, and our forests still give protection to 
wild life, the trapping is no longer a great business. 
Men who like that kind of adventure have gone far 
north and west to the wilds of Northwest Terri- 
tory and Alaska. The cities of St. Paul and St. 
Louis, which once gathered up all of the peltries 
and settled the prices on them for the world, are 
now only centers to sell from. 

In 1826 there were men at seventeen forts or 
factories licensed for fur trading in the Minnesota 



Minnesota, the Gopher State 117 

country and in 1834 there were twenty-four men 
who were allowed to deal in furs with the Indians. 
The most important factory at that time was at 
Mendota in charge first of Alexis Bailly, an agent of 
the American Fur Company, but he was accused 
of selling liquor to the Indians and was replaced in 
1834 by Henry Hastings Sibley, a man who became 
a leader in all the affairs of this part of the country. 

Just as soon as the white man begins to make 
homes and farms, he has to cut down the woods to 
make a place for his home, as well as for material 
to build it from, and then wild animals must go, 
for city life and hunting never go together, as we 
cannot trap animals or stealthily stalk them where 
there is manufacturing nor where streets are cut 
through and people passing by. Nor can canoes 
silently glide by or jump the rapids, the people in 
them looking for the game, which comes down to 
drink, when we use those rapids for water power to 
turn our mills or to move our cars. 

Trapping made a strange sort of man. He spent 
months alone in the wilds, quiet, fearless, hardy, 
doing his work, which often required more than 
ordinary human strength; sleeping out, sometimes 
absolutely alone for months at a time. When he 
returned to the settlement he was lazy, thriftless 
and often lawless, but we must not forget how he 
blazed the trail through the pathless forests and 



ii8 Our Minnesota 

made possible settlements and homes ; so he should 
stand out as a hero and one never to be forgotten, 
for the fur trader was one of our state builders. 

The furs which were very valuable and which 
sold for high prices were traded with the Indians 
for powder, rum, lead, firearms and tobacco, as 
well as all sorts of ornaments and clothes, which the 
Indians valued. The traders used no money but 
instead the prices were all settled by the values of 
the best beaver skin, which was called a "plus." 
One beaver skin was traded to the Indians for as 
much red paint as could be piled on the point of a 
case knife. Ten beaver skins would buy a blanket, 
twenty would buy a gun, and they often traded 
six bales of goods, which cost two thousand dollars 
for skins worth thirty-five thousand, so the com- 
panies made vast fortunes. 

The Indians who obtained the skins so easily had 
no idea of their value and were perfectly satisfied 
with the exchange. 

The licensed traders lived at the center called 
a factory and sent companies to less important 
posts, which were called factories or posts. The 
most important one in Minnesota before Fort Snel- 
ling was built was at Grand Portage, which was the 
center of a canoe route from Mackinaw along Lake 
Superior, Lakes Rainy and Winnipeg, and reaching 
as far up as Great Slave Lake, which even today is 



Minnesota, the Gopher State 119 

in the wilds. As early as 1800 the canoe yard at 
Grand Portage held a hundred canoes, seventy new- 
ones built each year. Thirty-five great canoes 
came in one day that year from Mackinaw, each 
bringing from three to five tons of goods with several 
voyageurs to each canoe. Several hundred white 
men were constantly busy there and the company 
employed seven hundred squaws to scrape and 
clean the skins and pack the bundles of fur. The 
people there had great balls and entertainments 
with grand banquets twenty years before Fort 
Snelling was built. 

The clerks of the fur companies were scattered 
at all the out-of-the-way places and sometimes had 
to endure great hardships, often living for months 
at a time on potatoes and salt. They sent out the 
canoemen or voyageurs, a hardy, bold, polite, care- 
less lot of men, many of them half-breeds who took 
life lightly and easily, and danced and sang to the 
swing of the paddles up and down the streams. 
They carried the packs to the Indians and trappers, 
who did the real work of getting the skins. There 
are many romantic stories told of these men and 
many of their songs have come down to us like 
the one at the end of this chapter, songs which 
they used to sing in their canoes or camps, and 
which the northern forests and hundreds of streams 
and lakes still seem to echo. 



120 Our Minnesota 

The canoes of the voyageurs held ten men and 
sixty-five packages of goods. These packages 
usually weighed about ninety pounds, and besides 
the things we mentioned held beads, blankets, cut- 
lery ; calico and ribbons for the squaws, and trinkets 
of no value, but for which the Indian would trade 
almost anything. 

The companies' stores were usually great wooden 
sheds, piled high with all the things which the 
Indians loved and everything needed for the 
companies' men on their long voyages, or months 
of life in out-of-the-way places. There were rows 
of moccasins, shelves full of blankets, paddles, 
tobacco, snowshoes ; and piled high, 'way up to the 
roof at the end of a good season, the priceless furs 
of all sorts of animals, some of them now entirely 
extinct. Here were beaver, muskrat, mink with its 
rich brown color, otter of delicate fawn, fisher, 
marten, skunk, weasel or the much prized ermine. 
Beside these we should find raccoon, lynx, wild cat, 
black bear, fox, among them the silver fox worth 
almost its weight in gold, and wolf as well as deer, 
elk and buffalo. When the trappers came in and 
the exchange of goods was made, the skins were 
sorted and pressed into great bales, such as we see 
now for baling paper and hay. 

While the canoe-men and the trappers were far 
away from other people risking their lives in getting 



Minnesota, the Gopher State 121 

pelts, the companies' agents spent their time in 
taking charge of the store, smoking, selling now and 
then to those who came in, for you must know that 
the traders' stores for many years formed the only 
means of buying anything at the little settlements. 
The traders sometimes couldn't write, and used to 
keep their Indian credit books by signs of their own, 
often drawing the pictures of the animals instead of 
writing the name of the pelt. 

Meanwhile the trappers were up early every 
morning working hard all day carrying heavy 
bags when they were obliged to make a portage, 
packing their canoes on their backs and, coming 
downstream, again carrying them unless they could 
shoot the rapids, which it was their delight to 
do. 

The food used by the Indian and the trapper and 
carried with them on all their long trails was 
pemmican. To make it the meat of the buffalo is 
stripped of the fat, shredded and boiled; a sack is 
made of buffalo skin with the fur on the outside; 
this is sewed up with thread made of sinews. A 
hole is dug in the ground and the sack put into it, 
filled with meat packed and pounded until it is 
absolutely compact. The whole is covered and the 
crevices filled in from a kettle of boiling buffalo fat 
which fills in every space and preserves the meat. 
This is considered the best nourishment possible 



122 Our Minnesota 

for men and dogs, especially fitted to the northern 
countries where it is often impossible to make a 
fire. It is easily carried and a little of it goes a 
long way. It was used by the fur companies in 
every trapper's outfit. 

There were before 1850 forty different kinds of 
fur in Minnesota, and the trappers knew how to 
catch each animal in the quickest and easiest way 
and the least liable to injure the skin. Most of 
the animals were taken in the winter when the fur 
is best, and this made life hard indeed for the trap- 
per who had to endure many hardships and was in 
danger all the time from the unfriendly Indians as 
well as from the wolves, which were a great peril 
in Minnesota. The beavers who built dams across 
the streams by felling great trees which they gnawed 
through with their sharp little teeth, were taken by 
letting out the water from the dam and then club- 
bing the poor, little creatures to death. The 
smaller animals like the mink, the otter, the raccoon 
and the silver fox, as well as the real ermine were 
taken by steel traps set underneath the snow and 
baited with fishes' heads or birds or any fresh meat. 
The deer, of course had to be tracked sometimes 
for many days, as were also the caribou, moose 
and the elk. If we had time it would be very in- 
teresting to follow the hunter day by day through 
the snow as he got up early in the morning to make 



Minnesota, the Gopher State 123 

his round of the traps before any animal, hungry in 
the shut-in weather, could steal his prizes from him. 
We should work hard with him all day long and 
often far into the night and lie down at last as he 
did, going to sleep with the howl of the wolves in 
our ears, surrounded by snow many feet high and 
the thermometer 'way below zero. Sometimes our 
trapper had dogs with him and brought his furs on 
a sledge along the frozen lakes and streams; but 
not often, as the dogs were hard to feed, so he must 
wait until winter at last wore away, and the sap 
began to run, and finally the ice in the streams 
broke up. Then we should go with our voyage ur 
to the birch trees, which he had marked the fall 
before, until the time came when the bark would 
slip easily away, and he would gash a great seam 
in the tree and slip off the bark just as one would 
slip off an old coat. Then he would drive stakes 
in the ground just the shape and size of his canoe. 
We should see him shape the canoe exactly as he 
wanted it with a framework of peeled birch or cedar, 
and with reindeer hide or the roots of the larch tree 
for thread, sew the great rolls of bark firmly to the 
gunnel. Then he would set birch or white cedar 
strips for ribs, pitch the seams if they cracked and 
when all was dried and ready, load it with the 
precious furs and paddle down to the trading post, 
where he would sit day after day with the other 



124 Our Minnesota 

trappers, and tell tales of his wonderful adventures 
during the lonely winter. 

After years of this life the trapper almost always 
married a squaw and settled down to a quiet life 
with a little patch of garden. Here he brought up 
his half-breed sons who were called "bois brule, " 
which means "dark colored guides," and they often 
followed trapping as their father had done. The 
settlements at Gull Lake, Traverse des Sioux, Leech 
Lake, Red Lake, Lac qui Parle, Little Rapids, 
Fond du Lac and many other places were all made 
by the early fur traders, and we shall see that the 
first road we ever had in Minnesota was built 
between Grand Portage and Fort William to carry 
the heavy packs over the swamps of that country. 

Minnesota was once the home of the buffalo, who 
used to cover the prairies in great herds. They 
were hunted in a wholesale manner. In the fall the 
Indians and later the bois brule would round them 
up gradually. The buffaloes at first quietly herded 
closer and closer together until one or two, scenting 
danger, would begin to paw the earth and give the 
alarm by snorting. Then the herd would lift their 
heads, curl their tails and stampede. The hunters 
carrying their bullets in their mouths, rode fur- 
iously in among them, lashing their horses and 
shooting the buffaloes right and left. The dust rose 
as though there were a tornado and the sound was 



Minnesota, the Gopher State 125 

like thunder, people sitting in the camps hearing it 
a mile away. Sometimes they killed thousands in 
one hunt. 

In 1840 Doctor Neill tells us of one day's hunt 
when they brought in thirteen hundred and seventy 
hides, and then the camp was busy drying the 
tongues, curing the meat, and making pemmican. 
The last buffalo hunt in Minnesota was long ago; 
now the buffalo lives only in our parks. 

THE VOYAGEUR 

Ax* heem de nort' win' w'at he see 

Of de Voyageur long ago, 
An' he'll say to you w'at he say to me, 

So lissen hees story well — 
"I see de track of hees botte sau-vage 
On many a hill an' long portage 
Far far away from hees own vill-age 

An' soun' of de parish bell — 

"I never can play on de Hudson Bay 

Or mountain dat lie between 
But I meet heem singin' hees lonely way 

De happies' man I know — 
I cool hees face as he's sleepin' dere 
Under de star of de Red Riviere, 
An' off on de home of de great w'ite bear, 

I'm seein' hees dog traineau. 



126 



Our Minnesota 



" De blaze of hees camp on de snow I see, 

An' I lissen hees *En Roulant' 
On de Ian' w'ere de reindeer travel free, 

Ringin' out strong an' clear 

Offen de grey wolf sit before 

De light is come from hees open door, 

An' caribou foller along de shore 

De song of de Voyageur. 

*'If he only kip goin' de red ceinture, 

I'd see it upon de Pole. 
Some mornin' I'm startin' upon de tour 

For blowin' de worl' aroun' 

But w'erever he sail an' w'erever he ride, 
De trail is long an' de trail is wide, 
An' city an' town on ev'ry side 

Can tell of hees campin' groun'." 

William Henry Drummond. 




CHAPTER VIII 

Early Days 

fort snelling 

On a high bluff at the point where the Missis- 
sippi and Minnesota Rivers meet, with a view of 
both valleys for miles, was built the first permanent 
post in the Northwest, and for years Fort Snelling 
was the most northwestern fort of the United 
States. As long ago as 1805 when Pike camped on 
the nearby island he chose this site, and not one 
place in all the country around could have been so 
satisfactory, for it commands the view in three 
directions. The government thought it would be a 
good thing to have a fort there because the English 
were not keeping the treaty they had made with us. 
In 1794 they promised to do nothing against the 
United States if they were allowed to trade with 
the Indians on our borders, but they never kept 
the promise and during the War of 181 2 they stirred 
up the Indians all the way from Michigan through 
Minnesota, and there was all sorts of trouble. 

127 



128 Our Minnesota 

After the war, we had learned a lesson from this, 
and the treaty at its close gave the English no per- 
mission to trade or to settle. 

There was no one to see that this treaty was 
held to, and the English still kept up their "talks" 
to the Indians and gave them English flags and all 
sorts of presents. In the two years after the war 
they gave almost one hundred thousand dollars' 
worth of gifts, and in order to stop this, because it 
kept the Indians uneas}^ forts were established at 
Mackinaw, at the "Soo" and at what is now Fort 
Snelling. 

Our northern boundary had not been fully settled, 
but if the British traders were in this country they 
had to promise to be true to the United States and 
give up England, or get out. 

At this time Calhoun, the great statesman, was 
Secretary of War and Monroe was President. 
Calhoun sent Colonel Henry Leavenworth up the 
Mississippi River with ninety-eight soldiers to 
establish a fort. This was the first time the 
Indians had ever seen the United States army, and 
they called them Ikansanti or "long knives" on 
account of their swords. The detachment made 
a good deal of show coming up the river in fourteen 
bateaux with twenty hired boatmen, two boats of 
provisions, another one for Major Forsyth, the 
special Indian Agent, and a barge for Colonel 



Early Days 129 

Leavenworth, and of course the Indians were 
mightily impressed as they passed their towns. 

The Sioux had learned that their great American 
Father was coming with presents, and Major 
Forsyth's diary tells us that they sent begging 
expeditions to almost every landing place. One 
was commanded by young Red Wing, who said 
that his heart was sad because of a raid by the 
Chippewas, and he needed the comfort that only 
presents could give. The one-eyed Wabasha led 
another band but, although they stayed ten days 
and begged all the time, Major Forsyth refused to 
give them goods, telling them he was going farther 
up the river and had to see many people on the 
way. 

The flotilla arrived at the mouth of the Minnesota 
River, August 24, 1819 and lived on the boats until 
their rough log cabins (the first fort) , were finished 
and the women who were with them, were 
glad enough to go into their cabins, plain as they 
were. While the party had encamped at Prairie 
du Chien, Charlotte Ouisconsin Clark had been 
born and was the first little child who ever lived 
at the Fort. The new post was built on the flats 
of the Minnesota River just below the present 
town of Mendota and was called New Hope. 

The soldiers were soon joined by another detach- 
ment making altogether two hundred and eighteen 



130 Our Minnesota 

men. Among these were the first martyrs of the 
frontier, for that winter forty died of scurvy. This 
disease was caused by the poor food and its lack 
of variety and, although these men died and the 
United States lost what was a large number of its 
small army, it helped to teach us a lesson. The 
whole world has learned this lesson since, that the 
most important things for any army are good food 
and clean surroundings, which are even more neces- 
sary to troops living in a small space than to us in 
towns or villages. 

In the spring of 1820 the post was moved across 
the Minnesota River nearer to its present site and 
was again a cluster of log huts. This place was 
called Camp Cold Water on account of a flowing 
spring of pure water which was found there and 
which for a long time furnished water to Fort 
Snelling. 

In August of the same year Colonel Leavenworth 
was ordered southwest and turned over the com- 
mand to his superior officer, Josiah Snelling, who 
was in charge until 1827, and who finished the 
Fort naming it St. Anthony. Colonel Snelling 
established a government saw-mill in 1821 at Saint 
Anthony Falls, where all the government lumber 
and most of the furniture for the Fort were turned 
out, the logs cut from Rum River. 

The log houses of the first camp were used again 



Early Days 131 

that winter and were made very comfortable with 
plenty of army blankets and floor coverings of 
buffalo skin. During this winter the first white 
child was born in Minnesota, the daughter of the 
commander, Colonel Snelling. She died the next 
year and her little grave was the first in the 
post cemetery. 

While at Camp Cold Water the soldiers began 
building the permanent fort nearer the bluff. A tree 
marked with his name had been left on this spot 
by Lieutenant Pike, and orders were given that it 
should not be injured, but it was unfortunately 
cut down by the soldiers while building the new 
quarters. 

All of the buildings of the new fort except the 
barracks were of limestone quarried from the 
place. Years later the post was surrounded by a 
massive wall of the same stone, loop-holed so that 
it might withstand a siege, and as the high bluff 
protected it on two sides it was well fortified. 

The soldiers soon began to farm and in 1824 had 
a hundred acres of corn and wheat planted, and 
although they had many failures in crops and 
several hard winters to undergo, on the whole the 
Fort grew and prospered. 

General Winfield Scott, the great hero of the 
Mexican War, visited the Fort in 1824 and many 
entertainments were given in his honor. He was 



132 Our Minnesota 

so pleased with the successful way in which things 
had been done at the Fort, that he wrote to Wash- 
ington, and asked that the name be changed to 
Snelling, in honor of the man who had done so 
much to make this frontier post a success, and of 
course his request was granted. 

The mail came to the Fort by a special messenger 
from Prairie du Chien and, as late as 1826, during 
the winter they had only one mail in five months, so 
we should not consider that they were having a 
really easy time. General Zachary Taylor was 
commander at this post in 1828 and 1829 and 
knowing the conditions well, he established a 
regular mail route in 1832. 

Many of the settlers, who came here very early, 
took up claims, or tried to, around Fort Snelling 
for protection, but these claims could not be al- 
lowed, because no one but a soldier is allowed to 
have a home on land given up to the army. These 
squatters were obliged to move out, as we shall see 
later, and this made a great deal of hard feeling. 

After the Indian treaties of 1851, Franklin 
Steele heard that the post was likely to be vacated 
and, in 1857, he bought the land from the U. S. Gov- 
ernment agreeing to pay ninety thousand dollars for 
all the property, which was a very good bargain 
for him and during the next year, the troops were 
withdrawn and Fort Snelling was deserted, 




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Early Days 133 

and sheep were pastured on the reservation so it 
looked for a while as though there never would be a 
Fort Snelling again. When the Civil War broke 
out the place was needed for camps and drill, but 
Steele refused to sell his property though he rented 
it to the government. All our regiments were re- 
cruited there, and later the reservation was again 
taken over by the government, though it was much 
smaller than before, as only fifteen hundred acres 
were reserved by the United States. When Gover- 
nor Ramsey was Secretary of War in President 
Hayes' Cabinet, he was able to make a great many 
improvements at the Fort. 

Fort Snelling has always been an important post 
of the United States Army. Sometimes it has been 
the headquarters of what was called the ''Depart- 
ment of the Dakotas, " one of the great divisions 
into which the United States was divided for mili- 
tary affairs, though twice the headquarters have 
been moved to St. Paul. In 191 3 the organiza- 
tion of the army was all changed under President 
Wilson and now Fort Snelling belongs to the "Cen- 
tral Department" with headquarters at Chicago. 
It has room for thousands of soldiers and might be 
used as one of the greatest posts in the country 
and a cavalry center, but for the past few years it 
has been almost deserted, the troops being on 
border duty. 



134 Our Minnesota 

During the summer of 191 6 the state militia was 
assembled at Snelling which was called "Camp 
Bobleter." 

In the early days Fort Snelling was the center of 
all festivities for Mendota, St. Paul, and St. 
Anthony Falls and the old settlers tell many stories 
of dances at Fort Snelling, where they took all the 
babies and little children, put them to bed at the 
post and then carried them home in the early 
morning after the fathers and mothers had danced 
almost all night. 

One early settler tells of driving from St. Paul 
to Fort Snelling by way of the bridge at St. 
Anthony and back again every night for four weeks, 
because the ice was not thick enough to drive 
across the Mississippi River, but too thick for the 
old ferry to run and he wanted to see a young lady 
who lived at Fort Snelling. 

Around the Fort naturally clustered other settle- 
ments for it was a protection from the Indians as 
well as a boat landing. 

Many distinguished people have visited at Snell- 
ing among them, General Grant, Charles Sumner, 
and General Sherman. 

Many artists have painted Fort Snelling for it 
is considered one of the most picturesque spots in 
our State. Today the long rows of cavalry barns, 
hospitals, wireless station, and miles of pave- 



Early Days 135 

ments running through the grounds, past rows 
of fine brick buildings, and bordered with stately- 
trees seem far, far away from its beginning of log 
huts less than a century ago. 

OLD SETTLERS 

In Minnesota the people who came here before 
1850 are called "Old Settlers," that is, the people 
who were here the year the territory was organized ; 
and we call those who came here while we were a 
territory and before we become a state, ** Pioneers. " 

Those who came the year Minnesota Territory 
was organized are " Forty-Niners. " There were 
many at that time who were very important in all 
the work that was done in the early days and one 
of the things we have to be most thankful for is 
the fine class of men who settled Minnesota. 

Of course many of the traders were settlers too 
and among the most valuable ones. In 1849 Mr. 
Sibley still lived at Mendota and kept open house 
like one of the old lords of the Middle Ages, only he 
wasn't an old one, and was loved and respected by- 
Indians and whites. 

Another trader was Jean Baptiste Faribault who 
came in 1803 from Canada and lived at different 
trading posts until 1820 when he moved to Pike 
Island, but he was moved out of the reservation 



136 Our Minnesota 

with the other settlers, and built a home on the 
edge of the river near Mendota. The river over- 
flowed in the spring and carried off his house ; and 
his family had to be taken away by boat. He was 
not discouraged but started again, and built a 
stone house still standing in Mendota where he 
lived for many years, going to his trading post at 
Little Rapids during the winter. A county was 
named for him, and he died after living to be an old 
man, in the home of his son Alexander for whom 
the city of Faribault was named. 

We should remember another trader too, Joseph 
Renville, whom you have heard of before. He was 
a bois hrule, born at Kaposia, his father taking him 
to Canada to be educated. He came back to Min- 
nesota and always cared more for the roaming, 
outdoor Indian life than a settled home. He was 
Pike's guide when he saw St. Anthony Falls and 
through him was made United States interpreter for 
the Sioux. The government always had^someone 
to translate the talks between the Indians and the 
white men, and a great deal depended on the inter- 
preter, who could make things which were said ap- 
pear friendly, or not, to the Indians, so we had to 
have a man who could be trusted. He was the 
guide of Major Long's party which explored the 
Mississippi and Red River, and a great friend to 
Doctor Williamson, the missionary, whom he helped 



Early Days 137 

with his dictionary, besides translating a part of the 
Bible into the Sioux language. He finally settled 
down at Lac qui Parle where his was the only house 
on the long journey to Pembina, at which travelers 
might stop and always be sure of a welcome. He 
married a Dakota wife who became an earnest 
Christian. He was a great friend to the Indians 
who trusted him entirely, and he taught them to 
plant the first seed corn on the upper Minnesota. 

Norman Kittson came to Minnesota when he was 
sixteen and lived here until he was seventy-four. 
He was a partner in the American Fur Company, 
lived in Pembina for a while, and was the inven- 
tor of the Red River carts. Later he was head 
of the factory in St. Paul and in 1858 mayor of 
that city. 

John Stevens called the "Father of Minne- 
apolis" spent much time in locating what he con- 
sidered the best place along the river, and when the 
government opened the land, took a claim on the 
river bank, where he built his home. When his 
claim was settled, part of his payment was that he 
was to run a ferry at the Falls free to the govern- 
ment. The settlement which grew around his claim 
became the city of Minneapolis in whose affairs 
Stevens was always prominent, for he laid out the 
first street which he named Washington, and for 
many years his house was the meeting point for 



138 Our Minnesota 

all matters of importance on that side of the 
river. 

When Colonel Leavenworth came up the river 
in 1 819, with him was a drummer boy fourteen 
years old, named Joseph Renshaw Brown, who 
had run away from home and who sounded the first 
reveille in Minnesota. He seems to have been a 
most live, wide-awake boy, interested in every- 
thing about the country. He explored a great deal 
about the Fort and up and down the river. In 
1822, while on a three days' trip with Colonel 
Snelling's son, he discovered Lake Minnetonka, al- 
though it wasn't named for many 3^ears afterward. 

He left the army when he was twenty years old 
and was sutler's clerk at the post, later was em- 
ployed by the American Fur Company, and after- 
ward became one of the great leaders among our 
early men. He ought to be called our ** builder 
of towns." He settled on a farm at Gray Cloud 
Island, laid out the town of Stillwater, had a trad- 
ing post for the Indians at Taylor's Falls, which he 
didn't have money enough to improve, and in 1839 
built a log house, the first one in Stillwater, the 
first town to be laid out, to which place he moved. 

He built the first house in Hastings and the first 
wagon road from Snelling to Prairie du Chien ; and 
another one to Lac qui Parle and over both of these 
roads he was the first to drive. He was Indian agent, 



1 

Early Days 139 

rafted the first logs down the St. Croix River, 
and was the man who began the movement toward 
separating our territory from Wisconsin, and giving 
us one of our own. 

Of the people who came here before we were a 
territory there were man}' who did much for the 
future, but above them all, three men stand out, as 
the ones who did most. These are Sibley, Steele, 
and Henry Rice, all young men when they came, 
and all living to see the State when at the end of the 
century it had come to be a power. 

Henry Hastings Sibley, or Colonel Sibley or 
General Sibley as he is thought of now, was only 
twenty-three when he came here an agent of the 
American Fur Company. He rode from Traverse 
des Sioux on horseback and the great inducement 
offered him by Ramsey Crooks, President of the 
American Fur Company, was that there was good 
fishing and hunting here. 

Mendota was the center factory of Sibley's 
domain, which extended north to Canada and west 
to the Red River, a vast empire. He was always 
on such friendly terms with the Indians, that he 
was a great aid in making the treaties. His house 
welcomed everyone of note who came into this 
part of the country, and many famous people in 
the early days were his guests. He was our first 
delegate to Congress and very helpful in organiz- 



140 Our Minnesota 

ing Minnesota as a territory, and was the first 
governor of the State; led the troops against the 
Indians and forced their surrender after the Sioux 
Massacre. In fact he was a part of everything 
that was worth while in the beginning of things. 
He lived west all his life and knew everything 
about western life. His manner was courteous and 
"The Tall Pine Tree," as he was called by the 
Indians was a well-known figure throughout Min- 
nesota until late in the century, for he lived until 
1 89 1. The town of Hastings was named for him 
and also Sibley County, and he will be remembered 
as long as these names last. 

Franklin Steele, ''The First Citizen of St. 
Anthony," who came here when he was twenty-five, 
was sutler at Fort Snelling in 1838, the first great 
business man in this part of the world, and the only 
early one who was not a fur trader; as a partner 
of Joseph Brown he entered a claim for all the land 
around St. Anthony Falls including Nicollet 
Island. He built the first mill outside of the re- 
servation, the first bridge across the Mississippi, 
was very helpful with Mr. Sibley in getting the 
territory started, and always believed that this 
was going to be a great State, risking everything 
to carry out his belief. 

He was generous in giving away land from the 
vast tracts which he owned for, you remember, it 




Henry Mower Rice 




Franklin Steele 
(From the E. A. Bromley Collection) 



Early Days 141 

was he who bought the original Fort Reservation. 
He was very much interested in all the affairs of 
the University and the great business ventures in 
Minneapolis. He never held any public office, 
but his name was given to Steele County and he 
should be remembered as the man who established 
Minnesota's lumber business. 

Henry M. Rice, who came to Fort Snelling in 
1839 at the age of 23, was at first post sutler, then 
agent of the great fur company of St. Louis. He 
was delegate to Congress, was senator, and had 
much to do with the Indian treaties. He was the 
first man who believed that wheat was going to be 
a great product in this country. He helped to form 
the State, and to get the railroad grants from Con- 
gress which made their building a success; he 
donated the first public park in Minnesota and 
alwaj^s gave land to the public, to churches and to 
charity. His tactful manner and wonderful way 
of expressing himself, made him a good person to 
send whenever the public wanted anything, for he 
usually got what was wanted. 

These three men, all coming here young, with a 
future before them, saw this wild region organized 
into a territory; helped to form the State and saw 
that State grow until the close of the Old Century 
or the dawn of the new. 

Of the people who settled here in the early days, 



142 Our Minnesota 

Governor Ramsey speaking of them when many 
had become famous, said what perhaps was the 
best thing that could be said of any people any- 
where: "After all, the old settlers were honest if 
nothing else." 

PIONEER MINNESOTA 

The very first people who came here for homes 
were from a colony near Pembina way up north on 
the Red River. They were Scotch, Irish, and Swiss 
settlers, who had been brought over from Europe 
by the Earl of Selkirk. They came at different 
times between 1812-1821 and were very much 
disappointed in the country, for they had many 
bad times with the English traders, with bad 
weather, poor crops over and over again, almost 
starving to death and undergoing all sorts of 
hardships. Hearing about our good land and 
needing the protection of a fort, a few came in 
1827 to Fort Snelling where they were allowed 
by Colonel Snelling to settle on the west bank 
of the Mississippi above the Fort. Year after 
year more of these people came until by 1837 
there were almost five hundred of them. They 
talked French and were a thrifty, hard-working 
people, though of course the Swiss who were clock- 
makers couldn't work at their trade. They brought 



^ Early Days 143 

cattle with them, built their homes, and raised 
enough in their gardens for their own food. 

After the Indian treaty of 1837 all the country 
about the Fort was reserved for government use, 
and when the settlers heard that there was danger 
of losing the land on which they had worked so 
hard, they sent letters to the President, told him 
their story and begged him to let them stay where 
they were, but in spite of all this they were ordered 
off in 1839, and moved across the Mississippi, 
where they built new homes, still on the Reserva- 
tion land. The next year they were again ordered 
to move but many of them refused to go and in 
May, 1840, their houses were unroofed, their goods 
moved out, and the buildings destroyed. It must 
have been almost too sad to endure, after all they 
had suffered, to again lose their homes, but with a 
great deal of courage they moved farther down 
the river and began life again. This was the 
beginning of St. Paul although it wasn't called 
by that name for some time. 

Among these people was a Swiss watchmaker 
named Perry, and Joseph Rondo as well as the 
Gervais brothers and Vetal Guerin who helped 
Father Gal tier to build the first chapel, for these 
were the settlers whom the priest went over there 
to minister to. 

The only white man living near this place was 



144 Our Minnesota 

Pierre Parrant who at first had a hut near Fountain 
Cave, but later moved farther down the river, 
selling his claim for ten dollars and settling about 
where the Union Depot is today. 

It is not pleasant to remember this founder of 
what was to be the capital city of the state for he 
sold liquor against the law, to the traders and 
Indians, and because of his mean face with one 
vicious looking eye, he was called "Pig's Eye." 
Some of the men who had been sent from the Fort 
for selling liquor to the Indians, came down the 
river and settled near Parrant. 

A man wrote a letter from this settlement, which 
had no name, dating it from "Pig's Eye" and so it 
came to be called that, until Father Galtier 
begged that the place might be known by the same 
name as his little chapel. When he married Vetal 
Guerin, the banns were published in "Saint Paul," 
and the name Pig's Eye was transferred to the 
slough farther down the river. 

All this time there were a good many people 
connected with the fur factory at Mendota. This 
was the largest settlement outside of the Fort, 
and grew for some time, faster than any other along 
the river. Many people believed that it would be 
the capital of the future territory and it might have 
been if the factor, Henry H. Sibley, had been 
selfish, for he might easily have had it located there. 



Early Days 145 

In 1842 Henry Jackson opened a general store 
near the little settlement across the river from 
Mendota. This store was built of tamarack poles, 
and kept a little of everything needed by anyone 
on the frontier from needles to shingles. In Sep- 
tember of the next year he took a clerk and French 
interpreter named August Larpenteur, who is now 
ninet^T-- three years of age (191 6) and the oldest 
resident of St. Paul. He is hale and hearty and 
says of himself that he is "tough as a hickory 
knot." When the land was opened, Larpenteur 
took as his claim the land where the State House 
and the two largest high schools of St. Paul are 
today. 

Because of Jackson's store where a post office 
was started in 1846 the steamboats began landing 
on the east side of the river and the place was 
called ** Saint Paul's Landing. " 

We must remember that the early missionaries 
and traders were settlers too, and made centers for 
settlement at many mission stations as well as at 
the factories and traders' posts only we think of the 
work they did instead of the men, which all of 
them would rather have us do. We read of them 
and many of our early settlers in other parts of our 
history, for everybody who came here for a home, 
of course had to do some kind of business. 

Most of the white people lived in little settle- 
10 



146 Our Minnesota 

ments along the rivers; on the St. Croix some 
lumbermen from Maine in 1839, built their homes 
at Marine which was the first really American vil- 
lage in Minnesota, and you remember that in 1843 
Joseph Brown started the town of Stillwater which 
he called Dakotah. This place many people ex- 
pected would be our greatest city and here the con- 
vention was held which started us on our way to 
be a territory. 

St. Anthony was begun in 1847, through Franklin 
Steele's enterprise in building a saw-mill, the 
foundation for the lumber business of Minne- 
apolis. 

During those early years the people endured 
great hardships, coming as most of them did from 
milder climates, for in 1826 the snow fell two or 
three feet deep on the river, and they had terrible 
blizzards which made it impossible to get about at 
all, for you remember there were no roads, and in 
the winter people walked, going from place to place 
on snowshoes. 

They were great walkers those days. One of the 
early missionaries walked eighty miles in two days 
and thought nothing of it, and another one made the 
rounds ever}'- three weeks on foot from Fort Ripley 
to Point Douglas a little village on the St. Croix. 
In 1 829 the summer was so dry that the crops failed 
and the water was so low in the Mississippi River 



Early Days 147 

that the steamers couldn't get up the river for 
many weeks and the Fort was using its last barrel 
of flour when supplies came. 

The mosquitoes were a great pest in early 
times for they came early in the spring and stayed 
all summer, causing real suffering among those 
who had to do out-of-door work, and of course that 
meant pretty nearly everybody, the travelers, the 
trappers, the traders, cruisers and lumbermen. 
The people who traveled on the water were some- 
times obliged to land and make a smudge in order 
to get along at all. 

Reverend Joseph Hancock, who came here in '49 
tells in his diary of stopping at an Indian village 
on the west bank of the Mississippi, a few miles 
above Lake Pepin. He had come to Buffalo by rail, 
from Buffalo to Chicago by boat, then had driven 
to Galena, Illinois, where he took the steamer up 
the river. At this Indian village, which was Red 
Wing's camp, he met Henry Rice, a well-known 
friend of the Indians, who all gathered at the land- 
ing and shook hands with him all around saying 
"How!" He met at Fort Snelling the Pond 
brothers who had already made a written language 
and a First Reader for the Indians. 

He makes us realize that we didn't become civil- 
ized all at once. He says that the school, which he 
started was not a "regular" one, as the Indian chil- 



148 Our Minnesota 

dren came and went as they pleased, like young 
foxes, and would recite a lesson and then think they 
had enough of school, and go. As soon as the corn 
began to get ripe they had to stay out of school 
to chase the blackbirds away, and after it was 
gathered everyone left and went to the woods. 

About this time Bishop Kemper preached his 
first sermon at St. Peter in the kitchen of an 
unfinished shack. The congregation sat on the 
floor and Mr. Flandrau said that to do honor to 
the occasion he dressed up in his ''Sunday best" 
moccasins embroidered with quills and feathers. 

The only way in the winter to get to settlements 
west of Wisconsin was the ice of the rivers until a 
road was marked out in 1849, although hauling 
supplies didn't begin until later. 

On the road between St. Paul and St. An- 
thony there were many bears and wolves, so 
that traveling between the two places was not 
altogether safe. Along the Minnesota River game 
was very plentiful, Sibley keeping a record of 
"seventeen hundred and ninety-eight ducks that he 
killed in three years. 

The only hotel north of St. Anthony was at 
John Banfil's, where people used to stop on their 
way to Fort Gaines, the early name for Fort 
Ripley. Banfil's house was built in 1847 at Coon 
Creek, and this place was always spoken of with 



Early Days 149 

pleasure in the diaries of the eariy settlers for there 
they were always sure of a good meal. 

In the winter, the mail was carried at first by 
Indian runners, later by dog sleds; and in summer 
it came by the rivers and streams where canoes and 
afterward steamboats were used until the railroads 
came. In 1850 when the mail was only twenty-one 
days behind time the people were all sure that 
spring was coming early. 

During all these years the white people in settle- 
ments here and there, were troubled by the Indians 
and many of them lost their lives. There were 
terrible Indian wars between the Sioux and Chip- 
pewas — each one making them worse enemies, 
because every scalp taken had to be paid back. 
It took much patience and bravery to adjust these 
troubles, and Fort Snelling was constantly called 
upon for help. The Indians gave everyone a 
hard time, but the people were brave and hopeful. 
They believed in the future, and year by year the 
settlements grew until in 1848 a new outlook came 
with the hope of our new government, though 
frontier life even then was not easy. 

The United States Government sells its land 
to settlers at a very low price, often charging 
only one dollar and a quarter an acre and the 
first settlers who came here hoped to get their 
property as cheap as possible. Most of them 



150 Our Minnesota 

had taken up claims long before the land was 
sold by the government but of course were only 
"squatters." When the government was ready 
to sell, and the first land office opened at 
St. Croix Falls, in 1848, many outsiders, who 
wanted the land not for homes but for speculation, 
came flocking to Minnesota. The settlers were 
very much worried for fear they would bid against 
them and so they would have to pay high prices 
for their homes. 

There were three important places, Stillwater, 
St. Anthony, and St. Paul, where the settlers 
had made claims on this land and none of them 
would bid against each other because they were 
neighbors. John McKusick bid in the land for the 
Stillwater people. Sibley, Larpenteur and Louis 
Robert were the agents from St. Paul and when 
the St. Paul lands were offered for sale, Sibley | 

found himself surrounded by men who carried 
heavy sticks and looked very forbidding. No one 
bid against him and of course he paid only one 
dollar and a quarter an acre for the land. 

Two people from Cottage Grove did bid against 
each other and had to give one dollar and thirty- 
five cents an acre, which was the highest price 
paid at the first land sale. Two of the speculators 
went to Washington and complained that they 
hadn't been allowed to bid on any land entered at 



Early Days 151 

that time, and as it is against the law to prevent 
anyone from bidding on government property 
things looked serious for the settlers. Henry Rice 
was sent to Washington to defend their case with 
the result that they kept their property. Many 
a dignified old gentleman in the State could have 
told of the day when he carried a ''big stick" to 
defend his head and his home. 

This same year, 1848, Wisconsin became a State 
and the part of Minnesota west of the St. Croix 
and east of the Mississippi was "no man's land," 
for the land west of the Mississippi River was 
the territory of Iowa. The part of Wisconsin Ter- 
ritory left out, sent as delegate to Congress, Sibley, 
who was so well known and so well thought of by 
both White and Indian. A great many people 
wanted Henry Rice to go instead, and the first po- 
litical meeting which was ever held in this region 
met at Stillwater to vote on the matter. There 
were sixty-one delegates at this meeting and the 
places they were sent from, show us just where 
there were settlements at that time, Stillwater, 
St. x\nthony, St. Paul, Pokegama, Marine, Crow 
Wing, Sauk Rapids, and Prescott, and a few other 
less settled districts. 

While Sibley was in Congress his great work 
was the establishing of Minnesota Territory, and 
he had a harder time to do this than we should 



152 Our Minnesota 

think possible today, for the people who believed 
in wslavery didn't want another free territory. 
There was a great deal of debate, some very 
bitter, though Sibley, who was helped greatly in 
Washington by Rice and Steele, gained his object. 
Many names were suggested for us, — Itasca, 
Jackson, Chippewa, Washington, Minnesota, and 
we wonder why the people from the eastern and 
southern states cared so much what the territory 
was called. We are thankful indeed that they 
finally decided as they did and that Minnesota 
Territory was established in 1849, its western boun- 
dary the Missouri River. 

The people at home were anxiously waiting to 
hear the news from Washington and it seemed as 
though spring would never come that year and the 
ice go out of the river. At last on the ninth of 
April over a month after the bill was passed, the 
longed-for steamboat whistle was heard and in 
spite of rain, thunder and lightning everybody 
hurried down to meet the boat. You may be sure 
that there was a joyful demonstration when they 
learned that Minnesota was a territory and St. 
Paul was its capital. 

As soon as our territory was organized, President 
Taylor appointed as governor Alexander Ramsey, 
a young man from Pennsylvania, who arrived on 
May 27, 1849. Ramsey, who came in this begin- 





Alexander Ramsey 
(By courtesy of Mrs. Charles Eliot Fumess) 



Early Days 153 

ning of Minnesota, is so important in everything 
good in our Territory and in our State for the next 
fifty years, that we cannot study our history with- 
out stvidying him. He brought his young wife 
with him and finding no house at St. Paul went 
to Mendota, where he and Mrs. Ramsey stayed 
with the Sibleys for a month, although it seemed to 
them a very unusual thing to visit strangers. As 
soon as a house could be put in order the Ramseys 
moved across the river and their home from that 
time on, was a center for political and social affairs. 
One of the early visitors says that it was quite a 
common thing to see Mrs. Ramsey entertaining 
her lady friends on one side of the room while Mr. 
Ramsey talked with his Indian guests on the other. 
The new government was started in a log house 
called Bass's Tavern, where the Council met, June 
first. The room in which the first meeting was 
held had a bed, two chairs, a trunk, a little mirror, 
and a small washstand on which the governor wrote 
his first proclamation. He ordered that a census 
should be taken so that the people might elect 
delegates, and assigned three judges in the terri- 
tory, one to have charge of the district around the 
capital, another everything south of the St. 
Peter River west of the Mississippi and the third, 
an unknown district beginning with the old gov- 
ernment sawmill. 



154 Our Minnesota 

The first territorial legislature had in it many 
strong men who were famous in our history, or 
became so. When the first legislature (or law-mak- 
ing body) met in 1849 they had no public hall, so 
had to meet in the hotel which was changed into a 
public building by putting a United States flag 
outside of it to show the seat of government. 

The Central House, as the hotel was called, was 
on the corner of Jackson and Bench Streets down 
near the river in St. Paul. The law-making body 
met in the dining-room and when the boarders 
came home for dinner had to adjourn, carrying the 
official papers in their pockets. 

Some very fine laws were made just the same — 
for these were days when Governor Ramsey did all 
in his power to keep the land for schools untouched 
so that today we have our fine schools and are 
sure that children in the future always will have 
them. The first legislature appropriated money 
for a Historical Society and we shall see later how 
much it amounted to. They decided to have a 
capitol at St. Paul, a university at St. Anthony 
(the old name for Minneapolis), and a prison 
at Stillwater. 

Just because we were a Territory there was no 
great change in Minnesota except that we felt more 
independent and had a name of our own. We were 
more independent too, for now we made our laws 




Mississippi River Ferry at Fort Snelling, 1865 

(From the E. A. Bromley Collection) 




Central House Where the First Territorial Legislature Met in 
1849. Burned in 1875 



Early Days 155 

here, instead of away over in Wisconsin, and we 
sent someone to Washington who looked out for our 
affairs in Congress, although he had no vote. This 
first delegate, as he was called, was H. H. Sibley, 
and we could have chosen no one better to take 
charge of our interests. 

The year 1849 was a very important one. Many 
people came and many houses sprang up, but still 
there were Indians, still missions, still fur traders, 
only there were more people who settled for homes 
where they expected to live always instead of 
merely for business which might not be lasting. 

That year, John Stevens came up the river on 
the steamer Doctor Franklin. He tells us that from 
Prairie du Chien as far as Wabasha there was no 
settlement on the Minnesota side. All the busi- 
ness was the Indian trading; and Reed's Landing 
was one of the most important places. Hastings, 
which was then called Oliver's Grove, had a nimiber 
of traders and the most important landing was 
Kaposia, Little Crow's settlement. When he ar- 
rived at ''The Landing" he described about forty 
buildings in the new village. Stevens stopped at 
the * 'place" of J. W. Bass, who kept boarders and 
whose house later became the well-known Mer- 
chant's Hotel which has always been a favorite 
stopping place for the legislators. 

After the first mill was built in Stillwater many 



156 Our Minnesota 

people went there to settle, and this mill was a good 
thing for everybody, because it sawed the lumber 
for most of the early houses in the towns about, 
among them the Central House, which was the 
first real hotel in the State. 

There were probably less than a thousand people 
in the whole Territory early in 1849. When the 
first census was taken that same year it showed 
that almost four thousand people had come, for 
the returns gave the number of people as 4680. 
South of St. Paul there were only four or 
five houses of white settlers, a few farmers at 
out-of-the-way places, and the villages we have 
already mentioned. St. Paul had at most two 
hundred people, most of them French, Indians, or 
half-breeds. 

The general meeting place for the settlers was 
around the stove in Henry Jackson's store, where 
the post office was, and James Goodhue, who had 
come over from Wisconsin to start a newspaper, 
used to foretell a great future which most people 
laughed at. This first newspaper office was not 
much like a modern one, for in the corner a sitting 
hen made her nest and Goodhue said that she was 
the only money -making thing in the place. 

The idea of a railroad ever coming here was called 
foolish, for the people said it could be operated only 
six months in the year on account of the snow, and 



Early Days 157 

no white man could live in this country very long. 
Once when a man said that he had made a trip from 
Chicago to Fort Snelling in three days, the only 
comment on his story by the newspaper was, 
*'Thatwilldo!" 

In 1 85 1 the description of a traveler is amusing. 
He says: '*St. Paul is the largest town in the 
territory, is situated on the left bank of the Mis- 
sissippi River, eight miles below the falls and is 
three hundred and twenty-seven miles from Galena, 
Illinois. It has a population of over twelve hundred 
inhabitants and is destined to become a large city. 

"St. Anthony, at the falls, is situated on the 
east bank of the river and is fast advancing in size 
and importance. It has, as well as water power, a 
healthy location and will doubtless in time be a 
place of fashionable resort. " 

But things were slowly changing, for while at 
first there were many Indians and a few whites, 
during this time of growth there were coming to be 
many whites and not quite so many Indians; and 
of course after the great Treaties of 1851 were 
signed, and the Indians moved to their reservations, 
there were soon many more whites. 

The Indians though, used to wander back now 
and then to their old haunts to pick berries and to 
hunt game, especially buffalo, and though they 
didn't say much, they liked to be around with 



158 Our Minnesota 

people and to see what was going on, so they loved 
to visit the towns. Once a whole tribe started back 
to their old homes and the troops from Fort Snell- 
ing had to drive them back to the reservation. 
We know how sad they must have felt to lose the 
lands they loved so well and which they felt still 
belonged to them. 

Before the Treaty of 1851 the land west of the 
Mississippi River had been pathless prairie, and 
though people here and there had built houses, 
there were no large settlements because no one 
could own the land. Now settlers came in a stream, 
every boat was crowded, and towns grew up in a 
single night like mushrooms, only they came to 
stay. 

You remember that John Stevens, " The Father of 
Minneapolis," came in 1849, and in two years a 
settlement began to grow up about his house, for 
which, of course, people wanted a name. Goodhue, 
the editor of the first St. Paul paper, said that 
everything in Minnesota was named after a saint, and 
so, as the names were almost all used up they ought 
to call this one "All Saints." Though no one 
liked it then, the name stuck for quite a while, as a 
nickname will. Afterward they tried calling it Lo- 
well, then Albion, and finally Charles Hoag thought 
of Minnehapolis, spelled with an ''h," which name at 
once pleased everybody and has been the name ever 



Early Days 159 

since. We often hear people say "what's in a 
name?", but perhaps there is a good deal, for the 
little town began to grow and grew so fast that 
before many years it had outstripped all the older 
ones. As the fur trade grew less and the lumber and 
wheat trades greater, and after the railroads came, it 
wasn't so important to be the head of navigation, 
and very much more important to have the great 
water power, which was a cause, of course, for the 
mills. 

Minneapolis, and St. Anthony across the 
river, were not made one city until 1872, long after 
the great war that we shall hear about, and since 
then St. Anthony has been called East Minneapolis. 

When the territory began, there were only four 
counties, but each year at the meeting of the legis- 
lature more were added. In 1850 the mail went 
once a week from St. Paul by way of Lake St. 
Croix and La Crosse to Prairie du Chien in Wis- 
consin, a distance of two hundred and seventy 
miles ; once a week to St. Croix Falls by way of 
Stillwater and Marine. Today mail goes between 
all those places at least twice a day. Ice wagons 
and milk and butcher carts appeared first in 
that year and people felt that Minnesota was quite 
grownup. In 1854 at the settlement where Red 
Wing's band used to have their lodges, the first 
meeting of Goodhue County was held on a lumber 



i6o Our Minnesota 

pile in a vacant lot, and to show how much the 
settlers expected a growth they planned a court 
house to cost six hundred dollars, which was a 
good deal of money in those days. 

The next year the town of Hutchinson was 
settled by a family of noted singers from New 
Hampshire who were on their way to Kansas but 
happening to meet a friend coming to Minnesota, 
came here instead. 

This was all less than sixty-five years ago and 
when we see to what we have grown, it seems almost 
a miracle. 



CHAPTER IX 

THE GIFT OF THE FORESTS 

We often think of Minnesota as all prairie land 
but when we study it, we find that fully two-thirds 
of the State is forest and the only place where trees 
did not once grow is Pipestone County in the 
southwest. 

Lying as it does, in the central part of North 
America, Minnesota has all the trees which belong 
to the Temperate Zone and many that belong to the 
North, so it is blest with forests, and these forests, 
as well as giving us the wild life, which we have 
already studied, make it possible for us to have the 
many lakes and streams which are our pride. 

Wherever we go in northern and eastern Minne- 
sota, we find the big woods, where are the trees 
which have been as useful to us as they are beauti- 
ful. These are largely in the north — white, red and 
jack pines, black and white spruce, balsam and fir, 
— all evergreens which are easily seen in the forest 
in contrast to the trees which lose their leaves in 
the fall. 

IX i6i 



1 62 Our Minnesota 

Along the streams and rivers and on the edges of 
the lakes are water beech, paper or canoe birch, 
which the Indians used, yellow birch, white oak, 
and poplar of two kinds. 

When we think of the woods, which have done 
most in making us a state and in giving work and 
homes to our people, we look always along the 
valleys of the St. Croix and the Mississippi where 
in early days were the most extensive white pine 
forests in the world. Even now, although the 
people who lived here early did not realize how the 
lumbermen were wasting and destroying this wealth, 
we have standing more white pine than any other 
state in the Union. 

This is the most valuable of all the soft woods 
for it grows so tall and so large and so straight that 
it makes the best lumber for man's use. Pine from 
Minnesota has been floated down the rivers to 
St. Louis and from there shipped to all parts of 
the country. 

Lumbering is the second thing which gives work 
to people in a new country where there are woods 
as in Minnesota, so when the trappers brought back 
stories of great trees, the lumbermen soon started 
out to explore them. 

Soon after Fort Snelling was built a man from 
Kentucky named Hardin Perkins asked the Indian 
agent, Major Taliaferro, for a license to cut trees 



The Gift of the Forests 163 

in the St. Croix valley. One of his partners was 
Joe Rolette, whose son we shall hear of later. The 
license was allowed and the lumbermen paid Hole- 
in-the-Day, the Indian chief who claimed this 
country, one thousand dollars a year for cutting 
the logs. Colonel Snelling stopped this work 
because he thought the Indian agent had no right 
to give the license and so after the loss of a good 
deal of money the work was given up. 

In 1833 Frederick Ayer, a missionary near the 
St. Croix River, which has given such untold 
wealth in timber, advised people to cut the forests 
there but no one followed his advice. In 1836 a 
man from Galena, named Pitt, cut timber at 
St. Croix Falls with the consent of the Chip- 
pewas, who, you remember, thought they owned 
that country. But the United States didn't 
agree with them, nor did it give Mr. Pitt a right 
to cut the timber. 

The year 1837 was a great one in Minnesota. The 
Indian treaties opened the land to settlers and for 
the first time the lumberman's axe was heard in the 
forest and the whir of the millwheel broke the 
quiet along the streams. In this year Franklin 
Steele of St. Anthony started up the St. Croix River 
with Dr. Fitch, the first white men to look for 
timber as a business, if we except Joseph Brown 
(first on the spot as usual) who cut logs at Taylor's 



164 Our Minnesota 

Falls and rafted them down the river earlier in the 
same year. 

Taking laborers with them they left Fort Snelling 
in a birch-bark canoe filled with tools and food. 
They floated down the Mississippi River to the 
mouth of the St. Croix up which they paddled as 
far as the beautiful park which nature made for us 
and which the State has since adopted at Taylor's 
Falls. 

But it was not the beauty of the country that 
this party of explorers was looking at, for they 
found the great trees they were after and made a 
logging camp at St. Croix Falls. The first logs 
they cut were used to build cabins for the camp, from 
which place they floated the logs down the river in 
rafts. Where the river widened, they caught them 
at what is called a boom, a long chain of logs 
reaching across the river, fastened together end to 
end and securely fixed to each bank. The logs 
were at first floated down the St. Croix River to 
southern mills, but before very long the lumbermen 
here built sawmills and sawed their own lumber. In 
1838 Peshick, an Indian chief, refused to have any 
more trees cut saying, ''No money for land — logs 
cannot go." He had not been paid for the land 
ceded the year before but fortunately the treaty 
was ratified in time to send the logs downstream. 

In 1839 Steele went to St. Louis where he 



The Gift of the Forests 165 

interested people in starting the St. Croix Falls 
Lumber Company, bringing up everything that 
was needed for a sawmill on the Palmyra, the 
first steamboat on the St. Croix River. 

The Indians were so terrified and excited at this 
terrible creature puffing out volumes of smoke that 
they hid behind the crags which rise high above the 
river and began rolling stones down on the boat. 
The captain blew his whistle which frightened them 
so that they sprang from their hiding places and 
ran away yelling and shrieking, leaving behind their 
blankets and everything else they had with them. 

The mill started at this time was the beginning 
of lumbering which lasted many years. The water 
power at St. Croix Falls today is used for electric 
current. 

The earlier lumbermen came for homes, and 
many of the logs that were cut, were sawed up for 
building these, but after the United States had 
surveyed the land and the people located the for- 
ests, they came to make money off the lumber. 

In the last month of 1837 the first tree was cut 
and the first cabin built which started the town of 
Marine. David Hone and Lewis Judd, who came 
in 1838 from Marine, Wisconsin, took up this claim 
on the St. Croix River, and the next year per- 
suaded thirteen people from their old home to join 
them. They went to St. Louis where they started 



i66 Our Minnesota 

up the river with everything necessary for milling 
and farming, including oxen and cows. Mrs. 
Hone was the only woman in the party and was the 
first white woman on the western side of the St. 
Croix valley. When the party arrived they found 
that the claim had been "jumped" by two men to 
whom they had to pay three hundred dollars before 
they would give up the land. The mill, which they 
built, cut the first lumber in that part of the valley 
and did business for fifty years. It was owned later 
by Lewis Judd, and Orange Walker who came first 
as the company's clerk. The people at Marine 
always raised enough food for their own use and 
were very prosperous until the mill was burned in 
1863. ' It was entirely destroyed as were almost 
half of the early sawmills in Minnesota, for fire 
has always been and still is, our worst enemy. 
More of our woods have been burned than have 
been cut and much of the money which was gained 
by such hard work in the early days had to be used 
to rebuild mills which were burned. 

The first claim at Stillwater was made in 1843 
by Jacob Fisher who took up a large amount of 
land which hadn't been surveyed. His claim was 
bought the next year by John McKusick and others, 
who built the first sawmill on Lake St. Croix, 
which mill did business almost sixty years, and was 
the first frame building in the valley. 



The Gift of the Forests 167 

Stillwater grew fast and was very important 
because of the lumber industry, at one time having 
twelve great mills running at once. The largest 
company, owned by Schulenberg, in 1856 sold 
its business to Hospes and Staples, and their 
mill under the name of the Atwood mill in South 
Stillwater, where Torinus also started a great 
mill, was running until lately. The old "Red 
Mill" for years was a landmark for many miles 
around. 

The first log boom was built in 1857 at Osceola 
and was later moved down the river just above Still- 
water where the Boom Company, consisting of all 
the lumber firms doing business on the St. Croix 
River, had its headquarters. Here the logs were 
sorted out and counted, for every log is marked 
with a letter or sign which belongs to its owner 
alone, and we can see that the company had 
some work when we realize that there were two 
thousand different log marks among the owners. 
The logs to be sawed at the Stillwater mills were 
taken out here, the others shipped on. Martin 
Mower was the head of the great Boom Company 
and lived at Areola a few miles above the lumber 
town. 

In Stillwater lived many men who were impor- 
tant in building up our State, great in lumber circles 
all over the country and a number of them not 



i68 Our Minnesota 

just lumbermen, as the names Hospes, Staples, 
Hersey, Nelson, and Durant remind us. 

Now the glory of Stillwater has largely passed 
away: all the old mills have been burned or torn 
down and instead of the busy bustling city thronged 
with lumberjacks wearing lanigans or spiked boots, 
it is important because there the State Prison is 
located. 

The towns of Stillwater, Lakeland, Marine, and 
Point Douglas were all settled on account of the 
logging, and flourished because there the companies 
that were formed made their homes and set up 
stores, many of them great barn-like buildings still 
standing, from which supplies were sold to the 
lumber camps back in the woods. 

The first frame dwelHng in Minnesota was built 
at Point Douglas which is now, as are many of 
these towns along the rivers, much smaller than 
it was many years ago, for as the trees were cut off, 
the companies moved their headquarters from one 
place to another. Here and there we see old saw- 
mills which were left to decay in quiet and peace, 
very different from the busy times when they 
sawed up and shipped out carloads of lumber each 
day. 

The Mississippi River pine was first explored ten 
years after that on the St. Croix and also under 
Steele, whose explorer, Daniel Stanchfield, came, as 



The Gift of the Forests 169 

most of otir lumbermen did, from the woods of Maine 
as soon as they found that there was more work to 
be done and more money to be made in the West. 

This explorer tells us how astonished he was at 
the immense tracts of white pine which he found 
along the Mississippi River and especially stretch- 
ing for fifty miles on both sides of the streams 
along the Rum River, which flow into it. He had 
almost given up hope of finding this sought-for 
timber, when he climbed a tall tree for a last look 
around. Here on all sides was a waving sea of green 
— a wonderful forest of white pine. He could hardly 
believe his eyes and had to hold on tight for a while, 
he was so dizzy with joy. The company which 
Mr. Steele had formed, had been afraid that there 
might not be enough logs to keep a mill busy and 
to make it pay at St. Anthony Falls, where, of 
course, the water power made it a good place for a 
mill, and Stanchfield writes, "I have found more 
white pine than seventy mills could cut in seventy 
years." Although it was true, the trouble was, 
that they did not save the smaller trees, as they 
should have, to wait until they grew, but cut 
big and little. So this great treastire was used up 
in less than seventy years although it took more than 
seventy mills to cut it. 

The immense forest along the Rum River, which 
flows into the Mississippi just above Anoka, 



I70 Our Minnesota 

supplied most of the lumber used in the building 
of Minneapolis. The first log drive, in 1847, which 
cost so much in time and strength and patient 
labor (for it is the early people who have the 
hardships), was all lost on account of high 
water, but Steele was not at all discouraged 
and went on doggedly, though on account of this 
loss, the mill, which they had planned, had to 
be built of hard wood cut from trees on Nicollet 
Island. The first machinery, too, was lost in the 
Erie Canal and they had to wait until another outfit 
could be sent on. This was the first mill on the 
Mississippi River except the government one, 
which, you remember, was built to cut the logs for 
the first fort at Snelling. 

All through this country as the explorer went 
farther west, the Indians had to be reckoned with 
and at Aitkin, which was then a trading post. 
Chief Hole-in-the-Day again forbade the cutting of 
any trees unless he was paid for them. He asked fifty 
cents a tree, a pony, five pairs of blankets, calico 
and broadcloth and said that he also had great pine 
woods up on Leech Lake, which he offered to show 
them, so he was paid what he asked and the stately 
pine trees began to come down. The lumbermen 
still had more or less trouble with the Indians but 
they usually got around them by tact and a few 
presents. 



The Gift of the Forests 171 

The dam was built at St. Anthony in 1848 
when the mills began work in earnest and sawed 
night and day, for numbers of immigrants began 
coming here to live and the year the territory was 
organized, they came in swarms. Almost all the 
money brought here at this time was what the 
United States paid to the Indians, and the stores 
furnishing supplies to the lumbermen took their 
pay in logs, which they did not get cash for until 
the next year. But this lumber trade was worth 
more than money for it built up great towns and 
cities and is often called the ''gold mine of Minne- 
sota." The first needs of lumbermen, as well as of 
other people, are food and clothing and so stores 
were built, and around the homes and the stores 
and the mills the people clustered. 

The pioneer woodsman like the trapper had a 
very lonely life, for when he started out to cruise 
or explore, for timber, he left behind him all 
signs of civilized life, his friends, family, and his 
comforts. He was always traveling, seldom spend- 
ing two nights in a place. He had with him one 
companion, sometimes an Indian, sometimes 
another cruiser, an ax, a few things to eat, which 
could not be shot nor found in the lakes ; his maps, 
and surveying instruments and always a little 
kettle and resin for pitching his birch canoe. 

When he left the streams and the lakes he hunted 



172 Our Minnesota 

through the pathless forest for good straight, clear 
timber, meeting on the way deer, bear, lynx, porcu- 
pine and that terror to the lonely man, hungry 
wolves. Carrying his heavy pack, he climbed over 
windfalls and uprooted trees, which the long winter 
and the great winds and heavy rains had dislodged 
and which make walking almost impossible. He 
waded through swamps, fording little streams, 
meeting only once in a while a lonely homesteader, 
who was usually delighted to see someone and 
offered him a bed and at least half of all the food 
he had. Sometimes he didn't reach camp at all 
and spent the night out, fighting mosquitoes and 
flies. 

One of the explorers tells us of being treed by 
wolves all night on his way back to camp. He had 
been able to climb a big tree, which the animals 
couldn't gnaw through, and there he sat shivering 
all night long nodding, but afraid to go to sleep 
until when the morning light came, the wolves 
slunk away as they always do, I suppose because 
theirs are "deeds of darkness." 

Another time one of the men had walked ahead 
of the team, which was about a mile behind, when a 
pack of wolves came crowding all through the trail 
and on either side of him. He wavered a minute 
then raised his ax, brandished it and rushed at 
them. They gave way, but watched him until he 



The Gift of the Forests 173 

was out of sight. He said that those minutes 
seemed like years, for he knew that if he turned 
and ran back, they would get him and by the time 
the team came up he would have been nothing but 
bones. 

LOCATING UNITED STATES LAND 

Many years ago in the early history of our 
country, in fact soon after we became independent 
from England, the government made a plan for 
surveying its land and it has followed that plan 
ever since, so that people, hunting for timber 
lands or claims for homes or mining property, may 
be able to describe just where the land is, for all 
land in the beginning belongs to the United States 
Government. 

The United States surveyor, who first makes an 
examination of the land, fixes by sight from a tree 
or some convenient place, lines running parallel, 
or in the same direction, six miles apart, north 
and south as well as east and west. These lines 
divide the country into squares six miles on each 
side, and each square is called a township. The 
townships are all divided into thirty-six square 
sections, each section one mile on each side. Each of 
the four corners of the township is marked by a 
post squared at the upper end, and marked on the 



174 Our Minnesota 

foiir sides with an iron which every surveyor 
carries with him. Each mark, you see, faces a 
different township. Then one tree in each corner, 
called the hearing tree, is marked B. T. and all 
these marks are put down in what are called "notes 
of the surveyor"; so if all the posts are destroyed 
and only one tree is left standing, the land may be 
*' located." The section corners are marked the 
same way and each section, which always contains 
six hundred and forty acres, is divided by fours 
until we get one hundred and sixty acres called a 
** quarter, " which the United States allows a 
homesteader. The quarters, even, are divided into 
*' forties," which are called "lots." 

The cruiser or explorer goes through the land 
and "locates" and lists the timber, which he wants 
to buy, in "forties," because the government sells 
nothing smaller than a forty. To find the good 
timber and locate it, is the work which the explorer 
has to do day after day. Then he "enters" the 
land, which he wants, at the nearest United States 
land office and his notes are compared with the 
notes which the government surveyor made. 

Sometimes two men locate the same land and 
then there is a scramble to the land office to enter, 
as the application for United States land is called. 
Many hasty trips were made by cruisers in our State 
who found traces of someone else exploring the same 



The Gift of the Forests 175 

land. Sometimes this trace was only a smell of 
tobacco smoke, sometimes a smouldering fire, and 
one man tells of finding on the trail a dead pigeon, 
still warm, dropped by a cruiser in his haste to get 
away; then there was a rush to the land office, 
through the woods, swamps and short-cuts. The 
winner often had to swim rivers and drop into 
ravines, going through great dangers, for anything 
was better than losing the land. We always hear 
from the winner for the other man never tells his 
story about entering land, as this was always a 
case of ''first come first served." 

Often timber was stolen and claims were 
*' jumped, " so whatever else he had to endure, the 
lumhei explorer never had a tame life. Hard as it 
all was, we very seldom hear of a man in the woods 
who was ill, and no matter how glad one was to get 
back to civilization, he was always just as glad to 
go, when the United States advertised new lands 
for sale, or the smell of the spring pine came to him. 

Most of the early lumbermen were "Maineites," 
as they were called, and brought with them the 
same methods they used in Maine. The lumbering 
was done in the winter, but early in July the 
teamsters used to start out to cut hay and wood 
for the winter, and the lumberjacks, who were 
idle and loafed about town until this time, went to 
build camp and to make logging roads. Some of 



176 Our Minnesota 

these lumberjacks were Scotch and Irish, though 
most of them in the early days were French 
Canadians. 

The logging roads, which they built, were 
straight, about twelve feet wide, and had to be 
smooth and hard because they hauled over them 
whole trees, the branches trimmed off and the 
bark cut away from the under side so that they 
would slip easily on the snow. The ruts in the 
roads were filled with water, which became hard, 
smooth ice, making it easier to drag the sleds over 
them. 

After a big tree was chopped down, it was loaded 
on a bobsled which was dragged by oxen or horses 
to the top of the ridge where the slide was, and 
started on its way down to the landing. There it 
was cut into logs, marked, and hauled to the 
water's edge. In the spring the drivers rolled it 
into the water and it was floated down to the 
boom. 

Today in the camps the logs are sawed, where 
they used to be chopped, and hauled on a tackle 
made of two sleds with cross chains between. 
These are drawn by oxen or horses and can carry 
such heavy loads that the logs are often piled ten 
feet high. In the large camps they use logging 
railroads, which are taken up and put down in 
different places as they need them. 




Firebreak in Koochiching County 
(By courtesy of the State Forestry Departmentj 



The Gift of the Forests 177 

The camps which were built years ago were 
very simple but the men thought that they were 
comfortable. They cut two large trees the length 
they wanted their house, put them about twenty 
feet apart, cut logs for ends, and floored the space 
over well. The house, which had a steep roof 
coming down on either side to the ground, was always 
shingled. There was a hole in the center of the 
roof for a great chimney made of round poles 
calked. The fire was built in the middle of the 
room right under the chimney, the fireplace made 
of three stones at each side and over this was 
hung a crane for kettles. The coals made a fine bed 
for bread and for beans, always a part of the lumber- 
men's meal. 

Benches the length of the camp were put up near 
the fireplace, and behind them the beds, which were 
pine boughs piled high. The table was behind 
the bench and in front of the door, and it was 
always important that the lumbermen, who had 
good appetites from their out-of-doors work, 
should have this table well supplied. So you 
always might be sure if you visited a camp, of a 
welcome and a good meal. 

Now the lumber camps have warm log houses 
divided into several rooms, with many windows. 
Instead of fireplaces they have modern ranges 
and a lumber-camp cook is a high-priced person. 



178 Our Minnesota 

but the meals probably taste no better than did 
those of fifty years ago. 

The great lumber camps of today have an army 
of men, often fifty choppers and teamsters in one 
lodge. The men have breakfast and supper in 
camp and dinner is carried to them, sometimes two 
miles away. The lumbermen , whatever their special 
labor may be, have hard work each day but they 
get good food and good pay, and the only objection 
to the work is that it leaves them idle a good many 
months in the year, which is bad for anyone. 

The lumber trade was the great thing which 
built up St. Anthony, and it and the flour mills 
are what have made Minneapolis the great city 
that it is today, for the records show that up to 
1900 her mills had sawed two thirds of all the 
lumber in Minnesota. Some of the names of her 
famous lumbermen are as important now as they 
were in the early days, for they helped to found a 
city more enduring than the lumber trade or the 
milling interests. The names of Morrison and 
Pillsbury, Winston and Langdon will never be 
forgotten in that city. 

The land between Minneapolis and Duluth and 
along the railroad lines north of Duluth, all of 
which was covered with forests, has been cleared 
since 1870. 

After the trees had been cut along the St. 



The Gift of the Forests 179 

Croix River, the lumbermen moved back to the 
ridge west of the river and many companies were 
started. The largest one now is controlled by what 
are called the Weyerhaeuser interests, one of the 
greatest lumbering companies in the world. 

There were many small mills all up and down the 
little rivers, but the important ones on the Mis- 
sissippi were at Hastings, Red Wing and much 
larger than these, one at Winona, where billions of 
feet (lumber being always measured by feet), 
were sawed. 

Instead of telling a story of increasing greatness 
and progress, we are sorry to say that in lumbering 
we are not going forward but backward, for the 
great days of this industry in the State are over. 
We no longer rank first in the Union as we did in 
1890, nor even fifth as we did later, for today 
Minnesota stands twelfth in the lumber business. 
Where we used to have one hundred and thirty- 
three mills in the State running day and night, 
there now are only twenty-seven, though we must 
remember that a modern mill, because of new 
machinery, can do ten times as much as one used 
to do. 

We have misused our great forests, for if we had 
carefully cut only the large trees and had been 
careful about ** slashings," as the refuse left by 
cutting is called, we should have kept up our 



i8o Our Minnesota 

lumbering for many years. "Slashings" and 
carelessness, in general, have started many great 
fires all over the State, which have destroyed much 
wealth as well as the beauty which is one of the 
things we should be careful to preserve. 

As much lumber has been wasted as has come to 
market and the great forest fires have destroyed 
so much that now we use more than we grow. Our 
State Forester, of whom we shall hear later, tells us 
that by 1922 all the woods, in which we take such 
pride, will be destroyed unless we are more careful. 

Today the lumber mills and camps have moved 
up to the north of the State with their center at 
Duluth, whose first mill was put up in 1856. The 
timber along the Kettle and Willow rivers is being 
cut and this work made the towns of Cloquet, 
Carleton and many others. 

But strange to relate, the great woods along the 
Vermilion and Mesabi ranges, when cut, disclosed 
a vast treasure whose unfolding reads like a fairy 
tale, for buried at their roots were found the 
mighty iron fields which have given Minnesota a 
fame and a wealth greater than her lumbering or 
even than her farming. 



CHAPTER X 



WATCH US GROW 



Several times in our history people have wanted 
to change the capital from St. Paul to different 
places in the State and in 1857, a law was passed 
to remove it to St. Peter. 

All laws then had to be passed by two bodies 
called the House and the Council. The bill was 
passed by both bodies and sent back to the 
Council committee to write out or enroll. Now 
the chairman of this committee having the bill 
in charge was Joe Rolette, who was an Indian 
trader and a driver of the Red River ox-carts. 
He was a great friend of St. Paul and didn't 
want the capital changed, so he didn't appear 
with the bill when it was called for. He was sent 
for again and again but no one could find him. 
One report was that he had been seen with a dog 
train on the way to Pembina where he lived; 
another one was that he had been killed, but at any 
rate he couldn't be found, and the people who 
wanted the capital moved wouldn't adjourn until 

181 



1 82 Our Minnesota 

the bill was found. A copy of it was made but it 
was decided that it wasn't correct and the Council 
*'sat" (as they say) for five days, eating and sleep- 
ing in the Council chamber waiting for Rolette. 
They did not find him before it came time by law 
to adjourn, and so the bill was lost. 

It was found afterward that Rolette had 
been hiding very comfortably at the Fuller House 
all the time. He was well hated for this trick by 
some people but just as well loved by others. 

During territorial days so many people came 
here, everybody was so prosperous and there was 
so much money made, that people thought it was 
always going to keep on that way, and spent too 
much money and branched out too suddenly. 
Everybody went into real estate business and 
thought of nothing but land. One man visiting 
here during this time said that the people thought 
nothing, did nothing, ate nothing but land and 
when they went to bed, they even talked about it 
in their sleep. A good many expected to have 
towns where they had made their different claims 
and thought that all they had to do was to offer 
land for sale and people would be glad enough to 
get it. 

One of these was Ignatius Donnelly, a prominent 
lawyer, who laid out the town of Nininger in Dakota 
County, built a great house and expected to see 



Watch Us Grow 183 

it the center of his settlement. The land sold at 
first and a little town grew up and flourished until 
the hard times came when it was deserted and most 
of the people went to Hastings. Donnelly's great, 
lonely house still stands, a monimient of the great 
"boom" days. Donnelly was famous as the 
writer of many books, among them Atlantis the 
story of a beautiful island in the Atlantic Ocean. 

Mr. Donnelly was a great orator, a regular 
"spellbinder," and represented us in the Legis- 
lature as well as in Congress several times. He 
was called the "Sage of Nininger" and was one 
of Minnesota's great men, but he never became rich 
from his land, nor did anyone else at this time. 

Suddenly in 1857, hard times came and no one 
could sell anything. There was so little money in 
the Territory during these hard times that store- 
keepers used to give people tickets saying, * ' Good 
for one dollar at my store," and these tickets were 
made out for sums as small as twenty-five cents. 

During this "panic" as it was called, people 
who came here just to get rich quick, left in a hurry, 
half of all St. Paul going in 1857, but the families 
who had come for homes and believed in the 
future were willing to bear something for the sake 
of the State to be. 

This trouble taught people a good lesson which 
they did not forget, for instead of thinking only 



184 Our Minnesota 

about the land and what they could sell it for, they 
began to think about using the land itself. So 
instead of speculating, people went to farming and 
into business and as soon as the excitement of the 
panic was over, everybody went to work. This 
was the beginning of our real growth. 

Now the year before this we had asked Congress 
to make us a state, equal to all the others. You 
see, there are a good many things, which a territory 
cannot do; it can't elect its own governor, nor vote 
for president, or most important of all, it can't 
have people to represent it and to vote in Congress, 
all of which things a state does, so a state has much 
more power. 

Henry Rice, who was our delegate in Congress in 
1856 had charge of the important matter of our 
statehood and to back him was Stephen Douglas, the 
man who ran against Lincoln for office and debated 
with him so many times. He was not a friend to 
Lincoln but he was a good friend to Minnesota and 
we needed him, for there were many who objected 
to our coming into the Union at that time. The 
people who wanted slavery didn't want another 
free state and Minnesota was sure to give all her 
votes against slavery as soon as she had a chance. 

At last, after many disputes and much talk 
Congress passed the "Enabling Act" which allowed 
us to write a constitution for the government of 



Watch Us Grow 185 

our State in its own affairs. There was a great 
quarrel here at home about our constitution, 
and the Democrats and RepubHcans (a new party 
at this time) had different meetings and wrote two 
constitutions, each insisting that it was the real 
meeting, and had written the real constitution. 

Finally, everybody saw that it wasn't sensible 
to begin our State life with strife and bitter feeling, 
so little by little they came together. The dele- 
gates never met as one body but they made their 
two constitutions exactly alike, so it made no 
difference for which one the people of the State 
voted. 

We were in such a hiirry to get to work as a 
state that we didn't wait for Congress to make us 
one, but had our election for congressmen, state 
ofificers, and governor in October, 1857, and this 
first election was a most exciting one. 

The Republicans wanted Ramsey for the first 
state governor, and the Democrats wanted General 
Sibley. They were both well known and both 
popular, so the vote was very close. 

Pembina belonged to Minnesota then, and it 
took a long time to hear from there. The election 
results were waited for anxiously, especially by the 
Democrats, for the North was a ftir country, and 
everybody there was sure to vote for Sibley. Joe 
Rolette was to bring the returns and the Democrats 



i86 Our Minnesota 

heard that the Republicans had sent a man to 
catch him on the road down and steal the ballots. 
So the Democrats sent a reckless half-breed rider 
to overtake this messenger, giving him orders 
not to spare his life nor the horse's life but to get 
there before the other man did. Now, you know, 
Pembina is four hundred miles from the capital 
and it usually took some time to get there, but the 
half-breed rode hard and very soon overtook and 
passed the Republican messenger. The ballots 
were taken from Rolette and brought back hidden 
in the belt of a good Democrat who was afraid to 
take them to St. Paul, so left them at Fort 
Snelling on his way. A little later he drove 
over to the Fort with a young lady and on the 
way back gave her a bundle to carry. She 
didn't know what it was, but it was brought safely 
to the Capitol and the State voted Democratic. 

Congress passed the bill admitting us as a state 
with our present boundaries May ii, 1858, which 
you must remember as the date of ^Minnesota's 
birthday. 

During this time the fur trade was passing away 
because so many animals were killed and some of 
them had almost disappeared from the State, so the 
very first legislature tried to stop this slaughter and 
passed game laws which have been added to 
from time to time. These laws protect our valu- 



Watch Us Grow 187 

able game so that it may not all be lost to the 

children of the future. 

This legislature made plans too for the State 
Agricultural College showing that they foresaw 
that in time we must stop depending on fur and 
lumber, and begin to be farmers. It would have 
been better for us, if everyone then had thought 
that it would help to have the farmers trained, 
because we should have had an easier time after- 
ward. But people didn't understand this matter, 
for in twenty years there was only one graduate 
from this college. 

In 1859, our State had a chance to vote the first 
time for a president and of course helped to elect 
President Lincoln. 

It was now that we established a Bureau of 
Immigration, which shows us how many foreigners 
were coming here, many of them because of the 
new homestead laws which Congress passed. Peo- 
ple from all over Europe came in and progress 
went on quickly. In i860 there were one hundred 
and seventy thousand people in Minnesota and 
in ten years there were almost three times as 
many. 

After the State was admitted to the Union it was 
only a little while before the great Civil War broke 
out and that stopped our progress for a time, as it 
did the progress of all the states : because while war 



i88 Our Minnesota 

is going on ^e can't do the same things that we 
should if we were at peace. 

E.amsey was the second governor who was 
elected and was elected a second time. He spent 
much time and thought on schools and did much 
for them. 

During his second term "he won the title of the 
*' Great War Governor," and the next few years 
were sad ones in the life of the whole United States, 
especially Minnesota of all the northern states, 
because of the great Sioux outbreak which came at 
this time. But in spite of our troubles without and 
within, we were never discouraged. The men who 
had helped to defend the Union, came back as 
citizens and went to work again in camp, in shop 
and office, and progress went on. The Union was 
safe, not one star was missing, and our own State 
had made good. 

In 1867 the last Red River cart came to St. 
Paul with fur, but lumber, wheat, mills, and rail- 
roads offered work to the thousands of emigrants 
who came here from other countries for homes and 
work. 

In 1870 Duluth came to be a city and ever since 
has been growing in wealth and importance. Situ- 
ated at the head of the Great Lakes where "rails 
and waters meet," it handles an immense trade. 
The boats loaded with grain and ore go down the 



Watch Us Grow 189 

great waterways to the East and come back with 
coal for the Northwest. Duluth has grown in 
beauty and public spirit as well as in wealth, and 
because of this and her location at the head of the 
lakes is called the "Zenith City." 

THE STATE SEAL 

The first territorial legislature had decided to 
adopt what is called a seal. All state papers must 
be signed with this seal which is cut in metal. The 
first one which was made for us, pictured an Indian 
family in front of their lodge, a canoe outside and a 
white man visiting them. No one seemed to like 
this very well and so General Sibley suggested 
another one. This was a round seal with the Falls 
of St. Anthony in the background and the rising 
sun in the East. A farmer was plowing westward, 
his gun and powder horn leaning against a stump, 
while an Indian with a lance in his hand was riding 
toward the East. The Latin motto which means 
** I want to see what is beyond, " was above, with the 
date 1849, below. There was a mistake made 
about the motto and people generally made fun 
of this seal, calling it a scared white man watch- 
ing a frightened Indian gallop out of sight. 

After we became a State, the seal was changed 
to the present one on the title page of our 



190 Our Minnesota 

book which shows a white man plowing east- 
ward, an Indian riding on horseback toward the 
West, and as a background the setting sun and 
the Falls of St. Anthony. UEtoile du Nordy 
which means ''The Star of the North," is above, 
and around the edge ''The Great Seal of the 
State of Minnesota," with "1858" below. This seal 
was used so much on important papers that in 
1907 we had to have a new one made for the use 
of the Secretary of State, the official who signs all 
laws of Minnesota and stamps them with this 
seal. 



CHAPTER XI 

MINNESOTA 
THE BREAD AND BUTTER STATE 

I SUPPOSE we ought to say that the first farmers 
in Minnesota were the Indians who gathered wild 
rice and corn, though, of course, they didn't 
plant the rice, and just scratched the ground for 
the corn instead of plowing it. So they didn't 
get very much of a crop. They had a queer way 
of gathering the rice. You know it grows on the 
edges of the little lakes in our State and all through 
the swamps. Two Indians used to push a canoe in 
among the stems of the rice, which grows very tall, 
and then while one held the canoe, the other would 
bend the tall stalks over and beat the heads until 
the rice fell off into the canoe. Sometimes they would 
get as many as thirty bushels in a day with one 
canoe. The squaws would spread it on mats raised 
on sticks above the fires until it was dried, next 
they would dig a hole in the ground about the size 
of a bushel basket, fill it full of rice and trample on 
it until the husks came off. Then it was spread 

191 



192 Our Minnesota 

out on the ground and fanned with great pieces of 
bark to get rid of the chaff. 

All of the rice in early days used to taste and smell 
of smoke and many old settlers didn't like it nearly 
so well when it was prepared in a cleaner and better 
way, because they missed the smoky taste. This 
rice is very nourishing and today is considered a 
great delicacy. It brings a high price in the East 
as well as at home, and there are acres of it along 
the edges of our lakes, not gathered except by the 
birds. 

When the White Man came here, you remember 
the Indians used to raise little patches of squash 
and potatoes, corn and tobacco. They were too 
lazy to do any real farming. The United States 
government sent agents among them to teach them 
to farm and they usually began with turnips for 
the crop looks so large that it encourages them to 
try again. The first wheat grown in Minnesota 
was in the Red River valley, way off on the north- 
western border, where there is a strip of land from 
ten to twenty miles wide and about three hundred 
miles from north to south, which is still considered 
the most fertile land in the world and is called the 
*' World's Bread Basket. " 

The Earl of Selkirk, you remember, bought a 
vast tract of land in this valley from the Hudson 
Bay Company in 1811, which was about the time 



The Bread and Butter State 193 

the Countess of Sutherland in Scotland wanted 
more land herself, and so she drove out a number of 
Scotch people who had been her tenants. These 
people came over to this country and settled down 
in what was called the "Selkirk settlement." 
There were some Irish and a number of Swiss 
among these settlers. 

Year after year these people were troubled by 
the Indians and over and over again after almost 
starving to death they were bothered by the fur 
companies. The very same year that Fort Snell- 
ing was established they raised a good crop and 
were very happy over it, but just when it was 
ready to harvest a swarm of locusts appeared so 
dense that, as they flew, they hid the sun from 
view and ate up everything in sight, not even 
leaving a stalk nor a seed for the next year's 
planting, so they didn't have any crop until 
1820, when they did manage at last to raise a good 
one. These were the people who later settled 
around Fort Snelling, where they came for pro- 
tection. 

I wonder whether you can realize how hard it 
was for the early people to try to do anything in 
this wilderness, where they had none of the con- 
veniences that the smallest farm or the poorest 
farmer has today. They used a narrow iron plow 
which dug just under the surface, often doing the 

13 



194 Our Minnesota 

plowing by hand and at most with one horse. If 
there was enough for the blackbirds and the pigeons, 
an early writer says, they sometimes managed to get 
some wheat for themselves. 

When they began raising grain on the Red River 
they cut it by hand with little sickles and tied it 
with small twigs. It was stored all winter and 
cleaned by men, women and children, and by the 
wind which blew through it. It was flailed on the 
barn floors, and "winnowed," that is the grain 
separated from the chaff, with a big fan made of 
cloth stretched on a hoop and held tightly against 
the chest while it was moved up and down with 
both arms. 

Sometime after the Selkirk settlement had a crop 
they began to raise wheat here and there all over 
Minnesota, but they didn't think that what was 
called spring wheat (the kind that is planted in the 
spring) was very good and because they didn't 
know how to grind it to make good flour it really 
didn't amount to very much. However by 1850 
they raised wheat in small quantities all over the 
settled part of the State, chiefly around Le Sueur 
and St. Peter. 

The story is told that, in 1853, when General Le- 
Duc went to the World's Fair in New York to dem- 
onstrate Minnesota crops, on his way East he had to 
buy the wheat which he displayed. Three things 




Old Betz, the Berry Picker 




" In Sunday Best." Pioneer Days 



X 



The Bread and Butter State 195 

made grain very important in our history; im- 
proved machinery, roads and milHng. Labor saving 
machinery came first, for our large farms could never 
have been run by hand labor. There was no use in 
sowing grain to rot in the field, for it wasn't pos- 
sible to reap it. 

Beginning with 1825, plows were improved 
until the great gang-plow came, and in 1831, 
Cyrus McCormick brought out a two-horse 
reaper with which he cut six acres of oats in half a 
day, as much as six men had done before. He 
began manufacturing reapers and threshing ma- 
chines in 1847, and since then farm machinery 
has been improved year by year. 

Today we have the complete harvester which 
not only cuts and threshes the grain but puts it 
into sacks. Instead of horses, these great machines 
use power, and they don't seem like machines at all, 
but rather like a great many himaan beings all in 
one. 

The second thing which helped farming was the 
railroad. In the beginning our farmers had no 
reason to raise more wheat than they could use 
themselves, and in fact they didn't raise enough to 
make all the bread they wanted. There were no 
roads to take their grain, and if they lived on a 
stream it was very hard to send it down even by 
boat. If they lived off the stream it was impossible 



196 Our Minnesota 

to get it anywhere, and we can see that now the 
farmers would be better off if we had better roads, 
for poor roads take more time than good ones, and 
time is more valuable to the farmer than almost 
anything else. 

When the railroads were built to take the grain 
to the markets beyond the Mississippi River or the 
St. Croix or up to Winnipeg, it made farming on 
a large scale possible, and so the great "bonanza 
farms" were started. 

On the great Dalrymple farm of two thousand acres 
they raised fifty thousand bushels of wheat in 1869, 
and it took a hundred men and a hundred horses to 
harvest it. The Paxton farm in Redwood County 
covered fifteen thousand acres, but in 1896 most of 
these great farms were divided, as other crops 
besides wheat came to be more profitable. 

But perhaps the third improvement was the most 
important after all, and that was learning how to 
be better millers. Wheat isn't of very much use to 
us until it is ground into flour. The first mill was 
built at St. Anthony by the government to grind 
the little wheat that was raised at first on gov- 
ernment property at Fort Snelling. Before this, 
people had used mortars like the Indians, and later, 
had ground their grain between two stones by hand. 
These hand mills were made a good deal like the 
coffee mills in our kitchens today. Fifty years ago, 



The Bread and Butter State 197 

there were a few horse mills, where the two stones 
which ground the wheat were turned on one another 
by a horse harnessed at the end of a long pole. 

Then an improvement came in the shape of wind- 
mills. Among the first ones in Minnesota were 
those at Owatonna, St. Peter, and Mankato, and 
in 1870 there were many big windmills in the State. 
They are almost all gone today because the people 
soon began to use water power. This is much 
better for grinding the wheat because it can be 
used so much longer in the year and is always on 
hand, while the wind comes and goes, though of 
course the early millers had to grind all their 
wheat before the streams froze up, or wait until 
the next spring. 

Before Minnesota was a state there were flour 
mills scattered over a large part of it. Lemuel 
Bolles' mill at Afton, built in 1845, ground wheat 
raised in 1853 at Grey Cloud Island. The first 
one to ship flour to the eastern states was the 
"Minnesota," the same year that we became a 
state; it was owned by a milling company in 
Minneapolis. 

A Scotchman by the name of Archibald, living 
on Cannon River, became famous during the 6o's 
for making the best flour in the world. Eastern 
people paid him a dollar a barrel more than any 
one else could get. But he didn't tell people how 



198 Our Minnesota 

he made his good flotir although he had many 
visitors who tried to find out. 

In 1870 Edward LaCroix went from Faribault 
to Minneapolis with ideas about milling, which he 
called the "new process. " The old way was to put 
the millstones, which are round and very heavy, 
close together and grind them very fast, which 
crushed the wheat all at once. This made a 
yellow flour which was sticky and didn't keep very 
well. Now people had found out that the most 
nourishing part of the wheat is just inside of the 
outer shell. In the old way of grinding most of this 
went off with the chaff or bran. The new process 
grinds very slowly, and at first just cracks the wheat, 
so that the outer shell is broken away and the 
gluten, which is the nourishing part, is all kept. 
But even milling it in this way, the wheat became 
so hot that the flour wasn't very good and still did 
not keep well. 

It was from the Hungarians that we learned how 
to use steel rollers, which grind very slowly and 
little by little, the wheat going through many 
different sets of rollers. After each grinding the 
wheat is shaken and the flour sifted through cloth, 
and when it has been ground over and over again 
we have the fine white flour of today, which "looks 
good enough to eat" and keeps very well for a long 
time, and besides has in it all the nourishment of the 



The Bread and Butter State 199 

wheat. The flour, which was ground by this new 
process in Minneapolis, soon became well known 
and people were willing to give two or more dollars 
a barrel more for it than for any other. So the 
great mills were built which turned out thousands 
of barrels a day and sent flour to the hungry all 
over the world. 

Now, of course, just as soon as people found how 
much money they could make on wheat they began 
to come into Minnesota by the hundreds and thou- 
sands, and for no other purpose than to raise wheat, 
and this, of course, made our population largely 
farmers. 

But crops were not always good, even if land was 
so fertile, and the farmers' troubles were many. 

For many years grasshoppers had been a pest, 
coming before 1820, and in territorial days 
destroyed much, but between 1870 and 1877 they 
were a scourge and the last two years entirely 
destroyed the crops. They ate everything — ^the 
bark on the trees, clothes on the lines, leather; and 
every blade of green was eaten down to the ground 
as soon as it appeared. People said they even ate 
saddles and boots, in fact they ate up everything 
but the machinery in the fields. 

All sorts of plans to get rid of them were tried, 
bounties offered and thousands of dollars paid for 
dead grasshoppers. They were burned, they were 



200 Our Minnesota 

tarred, but they came faster than they could be 
killed for they came by the millions and would 
disappear only to have others in great swarms take 
their places. There was terrible suffering through- 
out the State, and public aid was given to the suffer- 
ing farmers. Pillsbury, who was governor in 1877, 
did everything in his power to help, for the whole 
State was aroused as everything depends on our 
crops. 

The grasshopper lays its eggs several inches 
below the ground and they hatch out in the spring, 
so in April, 1878, just at hatching time in answer 
to many requests and petitions, the governor ap- 
pointed a day of prayer that the State might be 
delivered from another awful visitation. 

Afterward Governor Pillsbury said, "And the 
very next night it turned cold and froze every 
grasshopper in the State stiff; froze 'em right all 
solid, sir; well sir, that was over twenty years ago 
and grasshoppers don't appear to have been bother- 
ing us very much since. " 

Even this wasn't the end of trouble, because a 
little pest called the cinch bug killed the crops over 
and over again. 

Then people began to realize that they weren't 
raising so much wheat as they used to. They had 
worn out the land, for you know if you don't take 
care of it, you can wear out land just as you can 



The Bread and Butter State 201 

everything else. So the farmers in Minnesota 
began to rotate their crops which means to put 
different crops on the land. This leaves in the earth 
what wheat takes out, but this did not leave all the 
fertility that the land needed, so farmers all over 
the State began to raise stock, as well as rotate 
crops. Instead of losing money we find that it has 
been a wonderful gain, not only do we get better 
crops because we have cattle on .the land, but we 
have learned not to put "all our eggs in one 
basket." 

While we used to think that Minnesota was not 
only the best wheat place in the world, but was good 
for wheat only, we found that in our great State we 
can raise almost anything we want to, if we learn 
how to do it in the best way. In almost every 
county you will find wheat, oats and corn, which 
last is coming to be a greater crop in Minnesota every 
year. The com helps to feed the cattle which 
bring us so much money and so much fame. 

All sorts of vegetables and fruits may be grown 
here, and we raise huge crops of all kinds of things. 
You can raise not only the things you like best 
to grow, but you can find out what is the best thing 
to produce on your own land and raise that. 

The potato belt of Minnesota, in that queer 
angle between the Mississippi and the St. Croix 
rivers, is coming to be well known. We grow a 



202 Our Minnesota 

great deal of flaxseed too, and in the Twin Cities 
make one-third of all the linseed oil of the whole 
United States. 

While the Red River valley is still the best place to 
grow wheat and produces the wheat which gets the 
highest price in the market, yet, where a few 
years ago farmers sometimes had a yield of forty- 
five bushels to an acre, today twenty bushels is a 
large crop. 

The Minnesota mills (the largest in Minneapolis) 
grind one-third of all the flour of the world and send 
out of the State ninety-seven out of every hun- 
dred bushels, to our own country, to England, 
to the West Indies, to Hong Kong, to Brazil, and 
to Germany. 

Distributed all over the State you find creameries, 
which show how much the stock raising means to us. 
In the last ten years we have taken prizes all over 
the world for the best butter and the best cheese. 
Minnesota butter is used in the United States' 
Navy. 

The Agricultural Society, started in territorial 
days at the house of John Stevens, has held a fair 
almost every year since for the display of Minnesota 
products and for the education of her farmers. 
This has come to be the most important annual 
agricultural fair in the world; and is he!d on the 
two hundred acres called the State Fair Grounds, 



The Bread and Butter State 203 

where there are great display buildings, and every 
September the people of the State, especially the 
farmers, vie with one another to show their crops 
and in fact everything else which is produced in 
Minnesota. This rivalry has proved a great en- 
couragement to business of all sorts. 

Whether we have too much rain or not enough, 
and no matter how discouraged the farmer is over 
his prospects, we have come to expect that the 
State Fair will show what it always does, a *' bimiper 
crop. " 

So you see, because we raise so much wheat and 
make so much flour, and because we raise so much 
stock and make so much butter and such good but- 
ter, we could feed all the children in the United 
States with bread and butter every day. Wouldn't 
it be wonderful if we could do that, so that no one 
of our children would ever be hungry any more? 
Let us make up our minds that when we grow up 
we are going to go on with this good work in Minne- 
sota and learn how to use our land in the best way 
possible so that it will always be said that we are 
"The Bread and Butter State." 



CHAPTER XII 

THE SAD STORY 
WAR AGAINST SLAVERY 

We have a very sad story to tell today. The 
only one in the history of the United States that we 
are really ashamed of, and yet it comes out so 
splendidly in the end, that if we remember that, 
instead of the beginning, we shall be still prouder 
of our country. 

Many years ago, when the first white people 
came from Europe, those who settled in the South 
where it was warm, found it very hard to raise 
tobacco and cotton in such a hot climate, as they 
had to do all the work themselves without machin- 
ery. When they began to cultivate rice in the 
damp, sticky, muggy everglades, they about made 
up their minds that it was more work than it was 
worth while. 

Now as early as 1619, John Hawkins, an English- 
man, had gone around Africa in a Dutch vessel 
and had found there a number of men, who were 

204 




0) F. D. Millet 



Fourth Minnesota Entering Vicksburg 

(By courtesy of the Secretary of State of Minnesota) 



The Sad Story 205 

very little more than animals, not fierce and 
independent like the Indians, but usually gentle 
and obedient. These men were black and we call 
them Negroes. 

Hawkins thought, and too many people agreed 
with him, that because these people looked differ- 
ent from white men, they were different, and not 
God's people at all, but created to be the servants 
of the white men. So he began bringing shiploads 
of them over to the settlers along the Atlantic 
coast, where he sold them just as you would sell 
any kind of goods. These negroes didn't learn 
very quickly, and so they were willing to be slaves 
and do all the work of the white men, and they 
never realized themselves that it was all wrong. 
Most of the white people didn't realize it either, 
and so it was generally supposed that it was all 
right to keep them slaves, and to make them do the 
heavy work without any reward excepting food, 
very poor clothing and very mean little houses. 

In the North the people didn't need this kind 
of work, because the things that they did, re- 
quired brains as well as muscle, and besides that, 
they were very independent and thought men and 
women had a right to liberty, so they had few 
slaves. 

When we became free from England, and the 
United States was born, of course we ought to have 



2o6 Our Minnesota 

remembered that everybody in it should be free, 
because we believed, or said we did, that they were 
all equal; but we seemed to forget this, and so 
slavery grew and flourished in the South until there 
were more slaves than free people down there. 
Gradually the people in the North wakened more 
and more to see how wrong it all was, and began to 
talk about freeing the slaves. But the Southern 
States would give up anything, even their allegiance 
to the flag, sooner than their slaves, because for 
more than two hundred years they had thought 
they couldn't get along without them. 

Now there was no law in the United States to 
say that slavery was wrong, but about the time 
that the first settlers came to Minnesota, people all 
over the United States began to think and talk a 
great deal about it, until it came to be the most 
important subject in our government. 

Abraham Lincoln, you all know, was a friend of 
the slaves, but an enemy to slavery, and this was so 
well known that when he was elected President 
of the United States, South Carolina was afraid that 
laws were going to be made in Congress against 
slavery. So she made up her mind to leave the 
Union and tried to seize Fort Sumter, where the 
government kept its war supplies. When she 
fired upon the flag she became a traitor and in a 
short time ten other states joined her. The Presi- 



The Sad Story 207 

dent and many people in the United States realized 
then that there must be war in order to save the 
Union. 

President Lincoln asked for men to join the army 
on the fourteenth day of April, 1861, and our gov- 
ernor, Mr. Ramsey, was in Washington at that time. 
Early in the morning he went to see Mr. Cameron, 
the Secretary of War, and said, *'Good morning, 
Mr. Cameron, I have the honor to offer to you, 
one thousand men from the State of Minnesota, 
who will volunteer their services to defend the 
Union. " Doesn't that show how well he knew his 
State that he was able, without even asking, to 
know that at least that many men would go at 
once to save the flag? And when you realize, that 
of all the states in the Union, little Minnesota, only 
three years old, was the very first to volunteer, it 
will make you prouder of your State than ever, as 
it ought to. 

Mr. Cameron asked Governor Ramsey to put the 
offer in writing, which he did, so our men went on 
record as the first volunteer regiment in the United 
States. The next day the Governor went to see 
Lincoln whom he knew very well, and again made 
his offer of troops to the President himself. He 
telegraphed to St. Paul telling what he had done 
and one thousand men did volunteer for service 
for three months. Very few people believed that 



2o8 Our Minnesota 

the war was going to last any longer, if as long as 
that. 

The first week after the war began, business 
almost stopped. You could see the flag hung out 
everywhere. People in Minnesota were deter- 
mined that this flag was not to be disbarred nor 
unstarred and they forgot their private troubles or 
quarrels and thought only of the danger to the 
Union. There were meetings held in St. Anthony, 
Minneapolis, Red Wing, Winona and all over the 
State. 

While he was governor, Sibley had organized 
the militia, which made part of the first regi- 
ment of Minnesota. William Acker, who had 
been Adjutant General of this state militia, was 
captain of the first company of state volunteers and 
this was the very first company which enlisted in 
the whole Civil War. Josias King was the first 
man to enlist in this company so he was the first 
volunteer of the war. Captain Acker was wounded 
at Bull Run and killed at the Battle of Shiloh. 
The name Acker Post will always remind us of him. 

Thirteen days after the first enlistment, ten com- 
panies had been mustered in at Fort Snelling and 
Governor Ramsey put Willis Gorman in command. 
Colonel Gorman had been an officer in the Mexican 
War and the soldiers thought at first that he was 
terribly harsh, but after the raw recruits became a 



The Sad Story 209 

little more used to discipline they appreciated him 
and his training very highly. 

More offered themselves than were needed for the 
first regiment and in May the second regiment was 
offered to the President. By this time Lincoln 
realized that the war was going to last longer than 
anyone at first thought and so all who offered to 
go were asked to enlist for three years, or until 
the end of the war. But this made little differ- 
ence, for most of those who had offered their ser- 
vices to their country were willing to stay as long 
as they were needed and the places of those dis- 
charged were soon filled. 

Fort Snelling, during the days the troops were in 
training, was a very busy place and they had all 
sorts of celebrations where flags and swords were 
given to the different companies. The ladies of 
the State presented a flag to the First Regiment, 
which formed in a hollow square in front of the 
State House, and Mrs. Ramsey presented the flag 
for which Colonel Gorman thanked the ladies. 

That regiment must have been a very funny 
sight in their uniforms of black felt hats, black 
trousers and red flannel shirts. But on the twenty- 
first of June when they had their last parade at the 
Fort and the chaplain, the Rev. E. D. Neill, 
offered prayer for their bravery and patience while 
they were gone, and for their safe return, no one 
14 



210 Our Minnesota 

thought that there was anything queer about the 
uniform. 

The chaplain kept a diary which has given us 
much of our history about the First Minnesota. 
He stayed with them until 1862 when he was made 
hospital chaplain of the United States Army and in 
1864 left the army to be secretary to the President. 
On the twenty-first of June, 1861, the First left Fort 
Snelling on the steamboats, War Eagle and Northern 
Belle f which took them to the Upper Landing in 
St. Paul where they all left the boats and marched 
to the Lower Landing. There they went on board 
again and steamed down the river. The crowds 
who had followed them to the levee, waved fare- 
well quietly and bravely, but with heavy hearts 
went back to their homes to wait their return. 
The troops went by boat as far as Prairie du Chien 
taking the railroad the rest of the way to join the 
Army of the Potomac in defense of the city of 
Washington. 

This regiment was made up of no braver or better 
men than the others from Minnesota, but because 
it was the first it was more talked about all over the 
country. 

When they went through Chicago one of the 
papers said: "Gallant Minnesota deserves high 
credit for her noble sons and their appearance 
yesterday. They have gotten in their make-up 



The Sad Story 211 

that rare process of selection and culling from older 
states which has thrown into the van of progress 
the hardy lumberman and first settler of the wilds. 
There are few regiments we have seen that can 
compete in brawn and muscle with those from 
Minnesota, used to the axe, the rifle, the oar and 
setting pole, and these men in every way are 
splendid material for soldiers. " 

This First Minnesota became one of the most 
famous regiments in the whole war. Their first 
battle was Bull Run where they went against ten 
times their number and one-fifth of all their men 
were killed or wounded, but they never quailed nor 
questioned an order and at the close of the battle 
were praised for their fine behavior. 

J. B. Irvine, who was visiting his brother-in-law, 
was so excited by the way the}^ went into the battle 
that he seized a musket and went to fighting in 
citizen's clothes, capturing the Confederate officer 
of highest rank who was taken. For his bravery 
he received the rank of First Lieutenant and later 
was appointed Captain in the regular army. 

At Fair Oaks they hurried to the help of the 
Army of the Potomac, and rushing over a new road 
through a swamp, crossed a grapevine bridge, both 
ends under water, coming on the scene just in time 
to save defeat. One of them said that the crash 
of the bullets at this battle sounded like the snap- 



212 Our Minnesota 

ping of limbs in a gale, and that the leaves from 
the trees fell in a shower on the officers' hats but 
Gorman's brigade held the enemy here like a stone 
wall. 

The First camped on the very field where Corn- 
wallis surrendered the British army to Washington 
at the close of the Revolutionary War. They 
were in many battles and always were noticed for 
their courage. 

Before November, 1861, two more regiments 
were formed and called the Second and Third 
Minnesota. 

The Second regiment under Colonel Van Cleve 
joined the Army of the Ohio, and in the great battle 
of Chickamauga stood fast while the enemy 
charged again and again and finally pushed them 
back. General Thomas, the commander, was called 
the *'Rock of Chickamauga" and the Minnesota 
men stood fire as though they were rocks like their 
chief. The commander said afterward: "It is a 
noticeable fact that the Second Minnesota had 
not a single man missing or a straggler during 
the two days' engagement." 

The Third Minnesota had a very sad time, for in 
spite of the bravery of the men, their commander, 
Colonel Lester, surrendered at Murfreesboro and 
the officers were taken to Libby Prison where they 
were kept until paroled. The enlisted men were 



The Sad Story 213 

on their return home, sent against the Indians 
where they had a chance to show their bravery in 
the battle of Wood Lake. Later with the Fourth 
they were at Vicksburg under the command of 
Colonel C. C. Andrews, who was a real leader. 

The Fourth Minnesota was formed under John 
B. Sanborn of St. Paul, the first man to be put in 
command who had not been in war before, but he 
proved very soon that he was a born soldier and was 
given command of a brigade. 

Minnesota regiments were in most of the impor- 
tant battles and engagements of the war and if we 
might follow them they would lead us along a path 
of honor. We may mention only a few instances of 
the many where they covered themselves with 
glory. The Second, Fourth and Fifth under Gen- 
eral Hubbard, were at Corinth, where they filled 
a gap in the ranks and after desperate fighting 
drove the enemy out of the town. It is generally 
said that the Fifth ''saved the day at Corinth." 
The Third, Fourth and Fifth were at the long hard 
siegp of Vicksburg, and the honor was given to the 
Fourth with General Sanborn at its head to lead 
the Union forces into Vicksburg, one of the great- 
est strongholds of the South. The Fourth led 
** Sherman's army of sixty-five thousand men 
in that grand review in Washington." 

The Second and the Fourth were at Mission 



214 Our Minnesota 

Ridge where the Second, under Colonel J. W. 
Bishop, charged and, without orders, swarmed up a 
hill and fought hand to hand with the enemy. 

The Fifth, Seventh, Ninth and Tenth were all in 
the great battle before Nashville, where our men 
hurled themselves again and again against the 
enemy. Colonel Hubbard was knocked off his 
horse by a ball and led his troops on foot right over 
the bulwarks of the enemy. 

''Bracket's Battalion" served the longest of all 
our troops, from 1861 to 1866, and they were in 
both Civil and Indian wars. The last regiment 
that we sent was too late for active service but it 
did hard work in garrison duty which seems to give 
but little glory. 

The Second and Fourth took part in Sherman's 
march to the sea, which one of our brave leaders 
calls "the picnic through Georgia," and all that 
was left of the First, saw action in the last cam- 
paign which ended in the surrender of Lee and of 
the South, and many of our soldiers took part "in 
the grandest review ever seen in America." 

Minnesota sent eleven regiments to the war 
beside sharpshooters, light horse and skirmishers 
and heavy artillery. We sent twenty-two thousand 
and eighteen men, of whom two thousand five 
hundred and thirty-nine died of wounds or disease 
during the war and while they were in service. 



The Sad Story 215 

The famous First Minnesota was in many en- 
gagements, but the greatest was undoubtedly at 
Gettysburg. While the awful battle was raging 
General Hancock saw that the crest of a hill called 
Cemetery Ridge was undefended, the rebels swarm- 
ing toward it only a few minutes away. Looking 
about he spied a little group of men near a battery. 
**What regiment is that?" he asked. "The 
First Minnesota," answered Colonel Colvill salut- 
ing. ** Charge those lines," said the General, and 
our men ran down the hill, poured shot into the 
enemy and then charged them with their bayonets. 
Lee's great army was brave, but the cold steel was 
too much for anything hiunan to face, and the 
forward lines were forced to retreat. It was a 
wonderful victory but at a dreadful cost, for of the 
two hundred and sixty-two men who went down 
that hill only forty-seven came back unhurt. 

Cemetery Ridge was saved and though two 
hundred and fifteen were dead or wounded. Colonel 
Colvill with this little body of men held back the 
Confederate army until reinforcements came. They 
lost more in that battle than in any other of modern 
times, but they saved the day and did as much to 
save the Union as any body of men during the war. 
Colonel Colvill was wounded in this battle and 
crippled for the rest of his life, but lived to be a 
very old man. He came from Red Wing, where 



2i6 Our Minnesota 

he lived, expecting to lead again on Flag Day, June 
14, 1905, the few remaining heroes of Minnesota 
in the Civil War, from the old State House to 
the new which was just finished. Led for the half 
mile between the two buildings, by the young vet- 
erans of the Spanish American War, the old veter- 
ans carried on their shoulders the battle- torn flags 
which they had helped to save. On either side of 
the street were the regular army troops from 
Fort Snelling, who saluted as the old heroes went 
by, tottering under the flags which once they 
had carried so proudly and so sturdily. 

But Colonel Colvill did not lead them this time, 
for he had died two days before at Soldiers' Home, 
the lovely place on the banks of the Mississippi 
River near Minnehaha, where the old soldiers live 
and spend a happy life in telling of all their grand 
deeds and exploits when they fought in the Civil 
War. 

As the little company marched into the State 
House, there in the great rotunda, under the dome, 
lay all that was left of the brave old Colonel, and 
they passed around his bier with the flags, before 
they were put in the great glass cases where you 
may see them today. It seems fitting that the old 
man died just where and how he did, because it 
reminded the whole State once more of what had 
been done by our own heroes. 




Interior of Fort Ridgely. Built in 1856 




View of Fort Ridgely 

(From the E. A. Bromley Collection) 



The Sad Story 217 

When you go to the State House and see the 
tattered flags and in the Governor's room the six 
great pictures showing our service in that war, 
you will remember to be grateful not only that the 
slaves were freed and the Union kept together and 
that the flag didn't have to lose a single star or 
stripe, but you will be thankful too, that you live 
in the State you do. When you see the letters 
"G. A. R. " you will remember how much Minne- 
sota did in making up and in keeping together 
the Grand Army of the Republic. 

INDIAN OUTBREAKS 

You remember that by the treaties of 1851, the 
Indians who had sold their lands to the United 
States had promised to go to the reservations which 
were set aside for them on both sides of the Minne- 
sota River. The Upper Sioux had their reservation 
north of the Yellow Medicine, and the Lower Sioux 
had theirs south of that river. Each reservation 
had an agency witli an official in charge. The Lower 
Agency was on the Minnesota, about six miles east 
of the present town of Redwood Falls. The Upper 
Agency was at the mouth of the Yellow Medicine. 
At these agencies the Indians used to gather in the 
early summer when it was time for the payment, 
which they had been promised they were to have 



2i8 Our Minnesota 

each year for fifty years. At other times they 
did not keep within their bounds but scattered 
all over the country, especially when they were 
hunting deer and buffalo. 

The agents and the Indians were very friendly, 
a good deal like father and children; but, all the 
same, three forts had been built, one at Fort 
Ridgely, eighteen miles west of New Ulm, one at 
Fort Ripley near the border of the Chippewa 
country, and the third v/as Fort Abercrombie, 'way 
up on the Red River near Breckenridge. These 
forts were really only collections of frame and 
stone buildings with no fortifications, though in 
some instances there were block houses, with loop- 
holes through which shots might be fired. 

In 1857 a wild band of Sioux, whose chief was 
Ink-Pa-Doo-Ta, and who did not belong to the 
Agency Indians, but were outlaws from them and 
much more savage and fierce, attacked a settlement 
at Spirit Lake, on the northern border of Iowa, and 
at Springfield in Minnesota, the present town of 
Jackson. They killed forty-two settlers and carried 
off four women. Two men traveled in the deep 
snow, in the dead of winter, to the Lower Agency 
to tell the story. There was no trail, so they wan- 
dered over the trackless prairie for days and finally 
arrived at the agency almost worn out. As soon 
as the agent told Colonel Alexander, the officer in 



The Sad Story 219 

command at the Fort, what had happened, he sent 
some troops, on the hard journey to arrest the 
Indians, but they had all escaped. The massacre 
so enraged the people of the State that for some time 
no Red Man's life was safe. 

Charles E. Flandrau, who was the agent for the 
Sioux, urged Little Crow to organize his people 
to go after Ink-Pa-Doo-Ta's band and thus prove 
to the Whites that they were enemies. 

Little Crow labored night and day and traveled 
many times the distance between the camps of the 
upper and lower reservations until he had gotten 
his braves together. They went after the murder- 
ous Indians and killed and captured a few of them, 
but the greater part escaped; and so there were at 
large a band of the most dangerous red men that our 
border ever knew. Many people, who have studied 
the question, think that the Agency Indians lost 
respect for us because the white men could not 
capture the Ink-Pa-Doo-Ta band. 

In 1858 another treaty was made with the Sioux 
selling us the reservation lands north of the Minne- 
sota River, a tract ten miles wide. This treaty 
was made at Washington with only a few selected 
chiefs, and the rest of the Indians thought that 
they had not been treated fairly, although they were 
paid twice as much for this land as for what they 
gave up in 1851. 



220 Our Minnesota 

Ever since the great treaty some of the Indians 
had been getting less friendly to the Whites, more 
suspicious of them and more disrespectful. There 
were many reasons for this besides the two that we 
have just talked about. The pagan Indians and 
the Christian Indians did not always get along 
very well. The money which they were to get early 
every year was delayed in 1862. Their supplies 
from the government had given out, and they 
began to suspect that they had made a poor 
bargain in giving away the lands and their 
wonderful country for so little. No money could 
make up to them for the loss of the region which 
was once all theirs to roam in as they pleased. 
The United States did not pay so much attention 
to the Indians, and to the little barrier growing up 
between them, as they might have, because this was 
the time of our great Civil War. The Sioux well 
knew that we had sent out of the State thousands of 
our best fighters, and some people give this as a 
reason for their outbreak at this time. 

The Indians in little bands began to annoy the 
settlers, by stealing cattle, coming to beg for food 
at the scattered houses, and in the spring of 1862 
they began to be disagreeable. Possibly some of 
the traders told them that the "Great Father," the 
President, was not winning battles in his war with 
the Confederacy, and that the Union would not hold 



The Sad Story 221 

much longer. The horses and dogs of the Upper 
Sioux were all eaten, and as soon as the grass grew 
long on the prairie they came to ask for their 
payment. It hadn't come and they thought that 
this was because the United States had used up all 
its money and they never should get any more. 
There were over six thousand of these "annuity'* 
Indians and in July four thousand of them came to 
Yellow Medicine to ask the agent for food. He gave 
them a little and sent them home, but they broke 
open the storehouse and stole some flour and pork. 
Then he told them that he would give them all he 
had, if they would promise to be good and go home. 
They did go after he had divided all the rations, but 
of course they felt that the agent had to do what 
they wanted and so they grew more bold. The 
traders, to whom the Indians always owed money, 
nagged them and teased them until they began to 
feel that it would be right for them to try to get 
back their lands. But all seemed peaceful for a 
time and the first trouble came suddenly on August 
17, 1862, when a few young Indians got into a foolish 
quarrel about some eggs, which they found on a 
farm at Acton in Meeker County. The young men 
taunted each other with being cowards and dared 
each other, so just to show that they weren't 
afraid, they killed five people at the house of a 
settler, and then fled to their band, thirty-five 



222 Our Minnesota 

miles away. Whether there had been a plan for 
war or not, they did not expect to start the war 
just then, but on hearing the story at once had a 
"soldiers' lodge," and decided that they would kill 
all the Whites in the valley. At this time in the 
three forts along the frontier there were very few 
soldiers, which of course the Indians knew. The 
whole band scattered over the country for forty 
miles, painted and armed, and the more blood they 
shed the fiercer they became. A large number at- 
tacked the Lower Agency and killed a trader and all 
the settlers they could find, plundering the stores 
and burning the buildings. A few people escaped 
across the ferry and fled to Fort Ridgely, fourteen 
miles away. Now began a general war against 
the Whites in this region. Little Crow must have 
suffered much at this time because he knew the 
Whites so well and was their great friend, but he 
had not been elected "chief speaker" that year and 
when he was urged to join his people, thought that 
he might get back some of his lost honors, so led the 
band which started to attack Fort Ridgely and 
New Ulm. 

In the Upper Agency, which was to have been 
massacred in the same manner as the Lower, 
many escaped, warned of what was coming by the 
Christian Indians. The president of the ** Hazel- 
wood Republic" (you remember the "man who 



The Sad Story 223 

shoots metal as he walks") helped the missionaries 
and settlers. John Otherday took charge of a 
party, sixty in all, missionaries and other Whites, 
and never left them night or day on the perilovis 
journey across the prairie until they were safe. 
The Indians carried on a wholesale massacre of the 
settlers in the Minnesota valley. In groups of five 
or ten they would call at a house where they were 
known, talk with the people, suddenly shoot the 
men, plunder and burn the house, and go on to 
the next one carrying the women and children as 
captives. 

The houses along the frontier and the little 
settlements for one hundred and fifty miles were 
burned, plundered and the people killed. The 
horror of this raid so filled with terror the people 
in the outlying settlements, that thousands left 
their homes and, with nothing but what could be 
carried with them, fled to safety. Almost all of 
them went to Fort Snelling, Minneapolis, and St. 
Paul where people opened their homes willingly, 
sharing with them everything they had until the 
cities were at last a great camp of refugees, who 
told terrible stories of the horrors they had seen 
and the suffering they had endured. It is said that 
in thirty-six hours eight hundred people were 
killed. 

The news reached Fort Ridgely before noon the 



224 Our Minnesota 

morning of the same day that the massacre started, 
a wagon-load of people with a wounded man from 
the Lower Agency coming in and telling what they 
had suffered and what they had seen. Captain 
Marsh of Fort Ridgely had less than a hundred 
men, but he started at once with forty-six of them, 
leaving the rest to defend the Fort, and marched 
to the ferry over the river on his way to the Lower 
Agency. He saw no Indians at first but noticed 
that the water was muddy and some grass was 
floating on the surface. Then the soldiers caught 
sight of an Indian and some ponies, and before 
the men could escape, more than half of them 
were killed and the brave captain was drowned 
trying to cross the river. Only fifteen got back to 
Fort Ridgely alive. Among the killed was Peter 
Quinn, an aged interpreter who had lived in the 
country many years and had married an Indian 
woman. 

Lieutenant Sheehan with his company was on 
the way to Fort Ripley when the word calling him 
back reached him, and he returned and took com- 
mand of the Fort with the Renville Rangers and 
some men who had arrived with seventy thou- 
sand dollars for the Indians. But alas! the pay- 
ment came too late. The Fort had about one 
hundred and eighty men in all and many people 
from all about came there for refuge. 



The Sad Story 225 

Just as soon as New Ulm heard about the trouble 
from refugees the people sent over to St. Peter 
where Judge Flandrau lived and asked him to come 
and help them defend their city. Flandrau had 
lived among the Sioux for a long time as agent 
and was loved and respected by them, probably 
more than any other man. He sent his family in 
a wagon down to Fort Snelling, and gathering up all 
the ammunition he could find, went to St. Peter 
where he was elected captain of a hundred and 
sixteen men. He sent scouts ahead in a buggy 
toward New Ulm and followed, seizing on the way 
all the guns, blacksmith supplies, bullets, and 
everything else for defense that he could find. He 
said that every man was furnished with a pocketful 
of bullets and a gun. Men from Le Sueur and Swan 
Lake joined the forces in New Ulm just in time to 
help defend the town against a hundred Indians. 
A good many houses in the town were built of 
brick, and so could be fortified. After the first 
battle, men from Mankato and South Bend joined 
until they had three hundred poorly armed but 
brave men, each equal to a good many savages. 
Each day scouts were sent out to bring in people 
whom they found hiding in swamps and marshes. 

The city was hurriedly made into a fort, the 
men organized into a regiment with Flandrau in 
command, and for three days they waited, watch- 
is 



226 Our Minnesota 

ing fires coming nearer and nearer, each telling 
of burning farm houses and haystacks. Then a 
stack on one side of the river was fired and an- 
swered by a fire on the other side, though not 
an Indian was to be seen. Suddenly, without 
warning, out on the broad prairie, appeared the 
Sioux. They came forward slowly forming into 
a great horseshoe, and when half a mile away 
suddenly gave an ear-splitting yell and lashed their 
ponies into a gallop. 

Colonel Flandrau had drawn up his men outside 
the town and they fought well, but the sight of the 
yelling painted savages was so terrible that they 
wavered and fell back, and sixty men were wounded 
or killed within an hour and a half; but when they 
rallied and returned the fire, the Indians were 
repulsed. As the men fell back they fired from the 
buildings and the battle was carried on right in 
the streets of the town. One company, called the 
Le Sueur Tigers, took possession of a great wind- 
mill which they loopholed and barricaded with 
sacks of wheat and flour, and they did good work 
keeping the Indians in the west part of the town. 
When you remember that there were twelve or 
fifteen hundred women and children in New Ulm, 
this fight becomes a very important one. 

After the Indians had been forced from the 
town Colonel Flandrau ordered all the men out 



The Sad Story 227 

to burn the buildings on the edge of the town, and 
with fifty only, he dashed out and drove back 
seventy-five or a hundred Indians who retreated, 
as they were afraid of the open. 

The next day a sad procession of refugees in a 
hundred and fifty-three wagons, which had been used 
to barricade the town, left New Ulm for Mankato, 
because food was scarce and the burned city was 
not fit to live in, and besides there was danger of 
another attack. 

Today in the center of the town, where every 
child may see it on the way to and from school, 
is a relief of Colonel Flandrau on a monument which 
tells how he saved the people and the city of New 
Ulm. 

Meanwhile Little Crow with his band had at- 
tacked Fort Ridgely, which, you remember, was the 
refuge of many people. Some of the half-breeds 
who were with the forces at the Fort had deserted 
and joined their own people, and when Captain 
Sheehan in command, tried to use the cannon against 
the Indians, he found that they had been spiked 
with rags by these half-breeds. The attacks on 
Fort Ridgely were fierce. In the first raid it was 
attacked for three hours . During the next two days 
the Indians came again, and on the third day Little 
Crow seemed to have made up his mind that he 
must capture the Fort. With eight hundred braves 



228 Our Minnesota 

he fired from the ravines which make great seams in 
the banks of the Minnesota River and which shielded 
the Indians. This attack lasted for five hours, the 
Indians trying to burn the buildings with fire ar- 
rows, but the shells from the Fort broke again and 
again in their midst and they finally withdrew. 

News of the terrible Indian uprising reached 
St. Paul on the second day after the outbreak 
and Governor Ramsey, with his usual prompt- 
ness, made plans at once for driving the Indians 
back. He went to Mendota and asked Sibley 
to take command of the State forces giving 
to him the companies of . the regiments then 
forming to go to the Civil War. Colonel Sibley 
knew the Indians well, was very careful, and was 
trusted by all who knew him. He reached St. 
Peter on the second day and waited there until 
he had fourteen hundred men under his command. 

He had a great deal of trouble because supplies 
were slow in coming, and the ammunition did not fit 
the rifles, so time, which was more precious than 
anything else, was lost, but the leader and the men 
made up later for all these drawbacks. 

When the forces arrived at St. Peter Sibley 
led the relief at once to Fort Ridgely where the 
people had suffered a siege of eight days. A few 
days later he sent men out to the Lower Agency 
to bury the dead and to see what they might of 



The Sad Story ^229 

the Indians. They found no signs of life in Little 
Crow's village nor along the way, and coming back 
camped at Birch Coolie, on the open prairie, not 
far from the ferry where Marsh and his men had 
met death. Early the next morning from a ravine 
on one side and a roll of the prairie on the other, 
which hid them, the Indians opened fire and almost 
at once killed most of the horses. The company were 
completely surprised, but using the dead horses for 
breastworks, fought a terrible battle for twenty- 
four hours, when they were relieved by the whole 
command under Colonel Sibley. The Indians were 
routed, and fled. Of the little company rescued, 
twenty-three were killed and forty-five badly 
wounded and their tents so riddled with bullets 
that they were all in tatters. 

When he withdrew from the battle ground of 
Birch Coolie, as this was called. Colonel Sibley 
left a note in a split stick for Little Crow, telling 
him that he would treat with him if he had any 
proposition to make. After a few notes back and 
forth, which were delivered by half-breeds, Colonel 
Sibley started against the Indians. He camped at 
Wood Lake where a terrible battle was fought. 
There were about eight hundred on each side and 
the Indians had the advantage of hiding in a ra- 
vine, but were at last scattered by shot and shells, 
and fled, Little Crow returning to his own camp 



230 Our Minnesota 

with his followers. There had been trouble in the 
Indian camp and those who had deserted Little 
Crow put up their tepees on the Minnesota 
River, their leader the Chief Wabasha, who had 
with him over two hundred and fifty captives — one 
man, the others all women and girls. 

Colonel Sibley followed the Indians slowly be- 
cause he did not want to risk a battle, and when he 
reached their lodges he marched by with drums 
beating and colors flying. He called the place op- 
posite them, where he stopped, "Camp Release." 

He did not hurry because there were so many 
prisoners in the Indian camp that he was afraid 
if he attacked them without warning they would 
all be put to death as had been threatened. He 
sent a letter under a white flag, saying that if the 
prisoners were not returned safely, not one Indian 
would be left alive, innocent or guilty, to tell the 
story. After a long wait Wabasha surrendered, 
and the white prisoners, who had been treated 
very badly by the Indians, were returned. 

Many Indian prisoners were taken ; three hundred 
and three, tried for murder, were convicted, and 
thirty-eight of these were hanged at Mankato, the 
others pardoned by President Lincoln. The Indians 
were driven to the west, their lands taken away 
from them and no more money was paid to them. 
This is the reason that there are no Sioux Indian 




Charles E. Flandrau 
(By courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society) 



The Sad Story 231 

reservations left in Minnesota, and that those who 
live on our reservations now are all Chippewas. 

Little Crow escaped to Dakota and the next year 
came back to make another raid on the Whites. 
He was shot while picking berries near Hutchinson, 
thus ending his dramatic life. 

At the same time as the Sioux outbreak, there 
had been trouble on the Chippewa reservation, for 
a man had been seized and two cattle stolen. The 
settlers near Fort Ripley were panic-stricken and 
fled to the fort where they remained for some time. 
Among them was Father Gear, and Mrs. Abbe who 
now lives in St. Paul. The Chippewas insisted that 
there had never been any plan to join the Sioux, 
though many people think otherwise. 

For a time settlers did not come into Minnesota 
as they had before and many of those who had 
already taken up claims, returned to their early 
homes. Sooner than we should think though, the 
brave pioneers went back to their burned homes 
and built again. When the hundreds of victims 
had been buried, the grass again grew green over 
the prairie and the grain grew up and covered the 
scorched earth. Only in the memories of those 
who can never forget it, lives the most horrible 
Indian massacre that ever occurred in North 
America. 

Our State was saved to us by the gallant men who 



232 Our Minnesota 

volunteered and some of whom gave up their lives 
for it. Colonel Sibley was made Brigadier General 
for his services in this war, and we should never 
forget his name, and that of Flandrau, and of 
those others whose work was none the less brave, 
because we do not mention their names. 



CHAPTER XIII 

GETTING FROM PLACE TO PLACE 

Everybody needs food, and when a number of 
people live together it makes it necessary to go 
from one place to another to get this food, so roads 
are the most important thing in the history of a 
people who progress. 

The Indians in Minnesota would have starved, 
you remember, if they hadn't gone from one place 
to another as the seasons changed and the different 
kinds of fruit ripened or the game came. We know 
that long before the time of the Indians, whom 
we have met, the early people went from place 
to place because in the very old mounds in the 
center of Minnesota, we find copper. No copper 
is found nearer than Lake Superior, so they 
must have traded with tribes in the north. Trade 
after all is what keeps people going, and while 
the uncivilized people seem simply to wander 
idly from place to place, they are really in 
search of food, whether they pick it wild or whether 
they trade it for something else. 

233 



234 Our Minnesota 

The habit of going to a certain place season after 

season in the early days made the trails, which were 
then short-cuts from one place to another, and later 
were used by the traders when they made their 
regular routes. The waterways, of course, were 
easier than trails, and the Indians threaded these 
water paths in their birch canoes during the sum- 
mer-time, though they had to pack, or carry, 
heavy loads around the portages, which made 
paths around the rapids. You remember how they 
used to carry their own household goods, that is, 
how the squaws used to carry them. 

When the voyageurs packed for the traders they 
had regular loads which were made up into eighty- 
pound packages — ^flour, guns, tents, canoes, tea, and 
pork. All of the supplies for thef actors would be piled 
in these packages and each Indian would carry two. 
They used for packing a strap of hide about nine 
feet long and four inches wide, buckled or tied at 
the ends to many narrower ones. These ends were 
tied around a package which was raised on the 
Indian's back, and the band slipped over the fore- 
head, most of the weight coming just below the 
waist. Then another package would be lifted on 
top of this one, the body bent forward a little and 
the Indian would start on a quick dog trot, which 
he kept up as long as it was necessary. 

The big canoes, which the traders used held ten 



Getting from Place to Place 235 

voyageurs and about two tons of goods, so that each 
man had several loads to carry on a portage. They 
used to carry them about a third of a mile, drop 
them on the ground and then go back for another 
load, each one keeping his own packs separate all 
the time. When the packages were all collected 
they would have a little smoke, and all go on again 
until the whole portage was covered. When the 
streams froze, the voyageur became a coureur des 
bois, or guide through the woods, carrying as light 
packs as possible. Yet we must remember that 
all the food and clothing, guns and ammunition, as 
well as everything which they traded with the In- 
dians had to be taken in this way to the most distant 
posts. Often in the winter dog drags were used. 
The drag which the dogs pulled was a rough sledge 
with two crossed poles attached to it. These were 
fastened over the shoulders, with hide underneath 
to prevent chafing. The other ends dragged on the 
ground and on these the pack was tied. The dogs 
were harnessed tandem and the driver usually 
walked, though now and then he would ride for a 
short distance. 

The pony drags were larger than the dog drags 
and were used a great deal when the trails were 
worn and the weather not too severe, for ponies 
cannot stand so much hardship as dogs. The 
traders in going long distances in the winter used 



236 Our Minnesota 

sledges and dog trains which traveled from thirty 
to forty miles a day. They were sometimes very 
festive in appearance, the sledges decked with gay 
trappings and the dogs with bells and jingling 
harness. 

In territorial days Norman Kittson and Joe Ro- 
lette were elected to the legislature, and traveled all 
the way from Pembina to the capital in carioles. 
These carioles were drawn by handsome huskies or 
Eskimo dogs and the whole outfit was gotten up in 
the gayest fashion. They caused great excitement 
when they arrived at St. Anthony and still more 
when they drew up in St. Paul. 

Blessed as we are in Minnesota with so many 
lakes and streams, water was a natural way to 
transport things in the summer. The first boat 
with sails was brought up the Minnesota River by 
Le Sueur when he came on his famous mining trip 
in 1700, and the first boat load of freight was taken 
by him down the St. Peter or Minnesota River 
to the Mississippi and on to Biloxi. This was the 
beginning of river commerce, even though the 
freight turned out to be worthless. Jonathan 
Carver sailed up the Minnesota River in 1 766 sure 
that he had found a passage to India, which you 
remember was the aim of all the early people. 

One of the early boats on this river was a dugout 
made from a huge cottonwood tree, twenty-five 



Getting from Place to Place 237 

feet long and forty inches wide. This boat carried 
five men and forty bushels of potatoes from Lac 
qui Parle to Traverse des Sioux. 

The great Mackinaw boats used for heavy loads, 
were open keelboats from twenty to fifty feet long 
and from four to ten feet wide. They carried from 
two to eight tons and were pushed ahead with long 
poles. A plank was laid on either side of the boat 
and along this plank from three to five men walked 
and poled, each jumping off when he came to the 
end of the plank and beginning again in his 
turn. 

With the beginning of steamboats the more 
simple boat was less important, but canoes and 
rafts were used for short distances just the same. 

The first steamboat, named the Virginia, came 
up the Mississippi River from St. Louis to Fort 
Snelling in 1823. The sight of the steam escaping 
and the shriek of the whistle frightened the Indians 
almost to death, because they thought it was an 
evil manitou who had come to kill them all and 
they called it Pata Wata which means "fire canoe." ^ 

Before very long there were nine steamers run- 
ning more or less regularly to Fort Snelling, and 
when we became a Territory there were ninety trips 
made each summer. But in nine years, when we 
became a State, there were about one thousand 
trips made every season and then the Mississippi 



238 Our Minnesota 

River began to be settled all along its shores, as 
the boats were running up and down often. 

It was a great event when a steamer came, and 
the first boat in the spring used to be eagerly 
watched for, because it brought the long delayed 
mail and supplies, as well as many passengers. 
It was always a gala day in the river towns, and 
there was general rejoicing when the ice went out 
of the river and the business of the summer began. 

Can you imagine what it was like to live in a 
place where no train nor street car ever came 
through, and where there were very few roads lead- 
ing to very few places; and can you imagine what it 
meant for the people in the river towns, and in 
early days of course all the towns were on the rivers, 
to hear the steamboat whistle and to see in the 
distance a white wisp of smoke which said that the 
outside world was drawing near? Then can you 
see the rush to the landing, or the boat levee, to 
hear the news from the outside world, and to get 
newspapers and mail from friends far away? Can 
you realize what it meant, when food was getting 
short and when supplies in the few little stores were 
low, to have that steamboat come, especially the first 
one in the spring? Everybody came out to meet 
it ; the officers, traders, men, women, children and 
from the lodges all about, the Indians. 

The steamers or packets used on the river were 



Getting from Place to Place 239 

** side wheelers " with no hull visible above the water; 
the lower deck was used for freight while the upper 
one had the cabins opening on a decorated balcony, 
which ran all around the boat. They were very 
frail-looking crafts and presented a gay appear- 
ance, the shield over the great wheel gaudily painted 
with the name in great letters. 

The loading and unloading of one of these 
steamers was most interesting, for everything was 
carried by them from hats to horses. You must 
remember that we manufactured nothing here in 
those days and when the steamers made the re- 
turn trip to St. Louis they carried the pelts 
and hides and raw products and lumber from this 
great wilderness in the north. Until 1870 steam- 
boats were run now and then on what was called 
the Upper Mississippi — that is, above Minneapolis, 
and in 1859 a steamboat went from St. Cloud as 
far as Pokegama Falls. 

After the treaties of 1851 the steamboats ran 
regularly up the Minnesota as far as Mankato; 
a few to the Yellow Medicine Agency, four hun- 
dred and forty-six miles from St. Paul, and 
the supplies for the agencies were carried in this 
way. 

In 1850 there were some lively excursions on this 
river, three different boats vying with one another 
to see how far up each could go. The first went to 



240 Our Minnesota 

Traverse des Sioux, about as far as St. Peter; 
the second as far as Mankato, and the third 
one reached the mouth of the Cottonwood River, 
where is now the city of New Ulm. The people 
on these excursions often had to go ashore be- 
cause the boat stuck on sandbars, got its smoke- 
stacks caught in the branches of the trees, and 
frequently was laid up by the bank to cut a 
supply of wood for the engine. Meanwhile the 
passengers picnicked, danced on the grass, and 
fought mosquitoes. They passed on the way many 
Indian villages, where a few years later the river 
banks were lined with the towns of white settlers 
and a great trade carried on by the steamboats. 
When these boats first ran up the Minnesota 
River, the Indians, insisting that they were evil 
spirits, came and demanded that they should 
have kegs of yellow money to quiet the spirits 
who were disturbed by the snorting of the *'fire 
canoe." 

Before the 'seventies the river overflowed its 
banks every spring when the ice broke up, and 
opposite Fort Snelling it was often one or two miles 
wide and very deep, where now it is a narrow stream 
only deep enough for little pleasure boats. 

When the many towns were built and the forests 
along the banks were cut down the river receded 
and steamboat traveling became impossible. In 



Getting from Place to Place 241 

1874 a boat went as far as Redwood Falls, the last 
long trip that was ever taken. In 1876 there was a 
freshet on the river and several boats ran as far as 
Fort Ridgely, and in 1*397 Edwin Durant of Still- 
water took a " stern wheeler, " one hundred and 
seventy feet long, as far as St. Peter and Man- 
kato, the very last trip that a large boat ever made 
on the Minnesota River. 

The steamboats on the St. Croix River and on 
the Red River meant a great deal to the people 
living on the east and west borders of our State 
and made settlements there possible, and wheat- 
raising and lumbering profitable, but of course 
these rivers were never so important as the 
Mississippi. 

Time-tables on the early steamboats were not 
very reliable, and yet it is surprising that they made 
as regular trips as they did when we realize the 
mishaps they had and the troubles they met. 

The waterways of course were not made by man 
and were always there, but in our northern climate 
the winter ice and snow stopped the trade. Freshets 
made high water, and the summer drought made 
low water dangerous, while floating logs were a 
continual menace. 

The great packet lines on the Mississippi River 
in their turn gave way to the railroads which 
carried freight and people much faster than even 

x6 



242 Our Minnesota 

the swiftly running water, though even now we 
get our goods cheaper, because of these rivers for 
if the railroads should charge too much, people 
might again turn to the waterways. The names 
Blakeley, Davidson and Rhodes are all connected 
with the river steamers which did so much to 
develop our State. 

As we said the first roads which were not water- 
ways were the portages around the rapids, but as 
the settlements were made on these waterways at 
some distance from one another a road had to be 
made to connect them. The first one of this sort 
was the corduroy road connecting Grand Portage 
with Fort William, thirty-six miles away. It had 
to be built of logs because there was so much swamp 
land in this country that a regular trail was im- 
possible. Away up in the northeastern part of the 
State you may still see some of the old cedar logs 
which are left from this first wagon road. 

After settlements were made in Minnesota the 
first road was the one from St. Paul to Mendota, 
crossing the Mississippi and the Minnesota rivers 
by ferries, big, flat-bottomed scows, pulled across 
the river by ropes or cables fastened at either bank. 

The next road connected St. Paul and St. 
Anthony. In 1849 there was a daily stage line 
started along this road in the summer only and it 
was considered a good deal of a trip, as the road 



Getting from Place to Place 243 

was rough, and in bad weather sometimes almost 
impassable, while bears and wolves were often met. 
Now we may take the trip in an automobile in 
thirty-five minutes along the paved boulevard, 
where we meet other people going and coming in 
the same way every few seconds, while there are 
four street-car lines connecting the two cities, with 
cars running every five minutes. 

Two years after the stage line was opened by 
Amherst Willoughby and Simon Powers they 
brought out the first Concord stages, flat-topped 
sort of express wagons and painted bright red and 
Lyman Benson and Pattison started an oppo- 
sition line, which they painted bright yellow, and 
there was bitter rivalry between the reds and the 
yellows, each trying to make better service and 
better prices for the people. In 1857 between Tra- 
verse des Sioux and St. Paul there was a canvas- 
topped stage, holding four people though six were 
usually crowded into it. 

In 1843 when Kittson began trade between 
Pembina and St. Paul, there was no road and 
the strangest and most curious wagon that ever 
was seen was used for this trade. It was a two- 
wheel cart made entirely of wood and buffalo hide, 
no iron about it, everything fastened together with 
wooden pegs. The spokes of the wheels, which 
were five and a half feet across, were straight, and 



244 Our Minnesota 

the rim was three or five inches wide. This cart 
was attached by shafts to one or two oxen, har- 
nessed one in front of the other. These carts were 
suitable for a rough country as they would ride over 
the swamps and sloughs. Sometimes horses were 
used, but they were not so hardy nor so strong as 
the oxen. 

In the beginning, of course, there was no trail, but 
the ox carts cut ruts so deep across the country 
that they might plainly be seen for many years 
after they stopped using them. One driver could 
manage four carts, and as they went only about 
fifteen miles a day, it was a long trip to cover the 
distance of four hundred and fifty miles, taking 
usually more than a month. At night the drivers 
made a camp by arranging the carts in a circle 
with the shafts pointing in, and the animals were 
tethered at one end of the circle if it was a large one, 
or just outside if there wasn't room within. This 
made a very strong fort in case of attack by the 
Indians. The ox trains carried loads of from eight 
hundred to one thousand pounds of buffalo hides, 
buffalo tongues, pemmican, furs and pelts of all 
sorts. They took back tea, tobacco, hardware 
and everything else which they needed for the 
winter supply. 

The route which the Red River traders took in 
the beginning was along the west bank of the Red 



Getting from Place to Place 245 

River as far as the ridge called Brown's Valley 
between Lake Traverse and Big Stone Lake, then 
across the prairie to about where St. Peter is, 
at which place the train crossed the Minnesota 
River, so the place came to be called Traverse 
des Sioux. Later the route was changed and 
the ox-carts crossed the Red River far in the 
north, came to Crookston, and passed Detroit Lake 
which the old traders called ''forty-four" because 
this route was opened in that year. In 1844 there 
were six carts and in 1857 more than five hundred. 
There was no grease used on the wheels and the 
screeching and creaking of the carts could be heard 
at a long distance. When the long train was coming, 
it is said that there was nothing like the deafening 
din. 

The arrival of the Red River ox carts, early in 
July, was one of the great events of the year. The 
whole population of St. Paul used to turn out to 
see them come, and when they arrived on Sunday 
the churches were dismissed because even if the 
people had been willing to stay the minister couldn't 
have been heard. 

The half-breed drivers called bois brule camped 
with their outfits on some one of the lakes near 
St. Paul, and were objects of great interest. 
The drivers of the trains wore blue coats with 
hoods and bright brass buttons and often the gay 



246 Our Minnesota 

sash of Pembina. The owners of the outfit often 
started with horses and buggies long after the train 
and caught up with them before they reached 
St. Paul in time to take charge of the trade. 
The bois brulS all swaggered about the town enjoy- 
ing themselves and spending their money, to their 
delight as well as the joy of the shopkeeper. 

During the year 1866 this way of carrying was 
stopped because steamboats had been started on 
the rivers and because of fear of the Indians 
after the great massacre. 

The United States began building the first mili- 
tary roads in Minnesota in 1853 and they were fin- 
ished in 1857. One road ran along the Mississippi 
River from the Mendota ferry to Point Douglas, 
which place people expected would be a very live 
city. One old settler who bought a piece of prop- 
erty there wouldn't trade it for a lot in St. Paul 
on which one of the biggest business blocks is 
now located and, as he said himself, talking 
about it afterwards, *'I have the Point Douglas 
lot yet." 

In 1853 the War Department also began build- 
ing a road which ran along the Minnesota valley, 
from Mendota; to Lac qui Parle. This was the first 
road with bridges, which means the first road which 
could be used in all sorts of weather. It was fin- 
ished in 1857 and was an important connection 



Getting from Place to Place 247 

between the steamboat trade on the Red River and 

the Mississippi. 

The year after we became a State, Burbank and 
Captain Blakeley, the same one who was interested 
in the steamboats, formed a company under the 
name of the Minnesota Stage Company, though 
before this there had been a winter line, as it was 
called, which carried the mail to other parts of the 
State, and in 1854-5 William Nettleton started a 
line of stages to Superior, Wisconsin. These com- 
panies were all bought up by the Minnesota Stage 
Company which also took in the first express 
company that ever did business in our State. Bur- 
bank was called the "Father of Express" and was 
the first expressman, for he carried the first express 
package that ever came here, bringing it up from 
Galena in his pocket. 

In 1862 there were over thirteen hundred miles 
of stage routes and three hundred more where 
express was carried along pony routes. In 1865 
the stage company was a big affair owning seven 
hundred horses and keeping two hundred men busy 
during the season. 

Although settlements grew up all along these 
stage roads and many people used them, traveling 
over them was very tiresome. The places for meals 
were few and far between and the passengers 
usually carried their food with them in wicker 



248 Our Minnesota 

baskets divided up into sections, something like the 
picnic basket of today, and of course the food was 
all cold. The stopping-places were far apart and 
not very comfortable; snow and cold made travel 
irregular; the towns where the horses were relayed 
were not near enough to one another and the wear 
and tear made the expense very great. But the 
brave pioneers were willing to undergo hardships 
for the sake of what they believed would be a re- 
ward though very far in the future. 

This was all changed when the steam horse, or as 
the Indians called it, Ha-na-nee, "canoe over the 
mountains," appeared. It didn't mind wind or 
weather, and when the glittering rails made paths 
across the prairies, through forests and over waste 
lands, up hill and down dale — pathless before, 
they called men to follow. Then the State began to 
develop by leaps and bounds. Where one settler 
came before the railroads, dozens and scores came 
after. 

There had been many railroads planned and 
chartered before the State was admitted. In spite 
of these charters no railroads were really built until 
Congress gave what was called a ''grant of lands" to 
the railroad companies. This meant that the roads 
through certain districts had land given to them, 
every section or every other section, sometimes on 
one side of the track, sometimes on both. Of course 



Getting from Place to Place 249 

this was a great inducement for making railroads, 
because the land might be sold by the railroads 
and in that way a good deal of money gained. 

The first one actually built was the Minnesota 
and Pacific Railroad which was chartered in 1857. 
The fact that this road was actually built at that 
time was largely due to the energy of Edmund Rice 
who was its first president, and who by his under- 
standing of people made it possible to get the 
money necessary, at a time when the Nation was 
waging its worst war. 

In 1862 the first tracks were laid between St. 
Paul and St. Anthony — a distance of ten miles. 
The first train left St. Paul on July 2, 1862. The 
engine pulling it, called the ''William Crooks," 
still kept as a relic, was run by the engineer 
Webster Gardner. There was great rejoicing 
when the first trip to the town ten miles away 
was made without accident. In 1871 the road 
ran to Breckenridge which is two hundred and 
seventeen miles away. A branch of this road called 
the St. Paul and Chicago was begun in 1867 and 
five years later trains ran as far as Winona. The 
road borrowed money from England and this was 
the first time since fur-trading days that any English 
money was used here. 

Edmund Rice, who went to England to get the 
money for the railroad and was the father of rail- 



250 Our Minnesota 

roading in Minnesota, had much to do with its 
success. He was called the Chesterfield of Minne- 
sota because of his pleasant manner and geniality 
to everyone. He was able to get capital for the 
railroads when most people would have failed, 
because he knew just how to approach people and 
always said just the right thing at the right time 
and just the thing which was pleasant as well as 
truthful. One of his friends met him in Washing- 
ton when he was trying to get the railroad grant 
through Congress, and said that when he saw Mr. 
Rice talk to the ladies in Washington he knew there 
was no question about the vote. He looked like 
an Englishman and once when he and William 
Banning were in London trying to get money for 
the railroads, Banning was held by a street pro- 
cession and had to wait a long time on the sidewalk. 
Suddenly he saw the crowds give way and a herald 
ordering the people back saying, ''make way for 
Milord," and down the center of the street marched 
Edmund Rice. 

The second road to build was the Minneapolis 
and Cedar Valley, which afterward was taken in by 
the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul. Its first 
tracks were opened for business in 1865, the road 
running from Mendota to Northfield, and later 
from Minneapolis to Faribault. 

In 1865 a road called the Minnesota Valley 



Getting from Place to Place 251 

began its first line to Shakopee. This was united 
in 1880 with the Omaha and was the beginning 
of the Northwestern Line. When it was built 
its route was along the Minnesota valley, and 
because the river overflowed its banks from five 
to fifteen feet, the railroad had to be built on a 
height, so it follows the line of the bluffs for many- 
miles. The first road to go north was the Lake 
Superior and Mississippi Valley, of which Wil- 
liam Banning was the president and in fact the 
leader of the scheme. In 1870 the train went 
up through the winding valleys and across the 
many deep ravines, through the wild forests; over 
the road built in spite of what had seemed in- 
surmountable obstacles, and arrived in Duluth. 
This road thus gained the object for which it was 
built, to connect the Mississippi River with the 
Great Lakes, or, as they said then, "to span the 
overland spaces," which then began to be more 
important than the river traffic. This road was 
later called the St. Paul and Duluth, and for 
many years was the only railroad of importance 
entirely within our State. Today it is a part of 
the Northern Pacific system. 

The greatest land grant given to any of the 
railroads starting from Minnesota was given to 
the Northern Pacific which received from Congress 
many sections on both sides of the track clear 



252 Our Minnesota 

across the western part of the continent, and the 
sale of these lands made the road very rich. This 
charter, given in 1864, was signed by Abraham 
Lincoln and the year the war broke out the road 
had built a track as far as Moorhead. It gradually 
extended beyond the State and was the first road 
in the north to reach the Pacific Ocean, in 1883, 
although all of the roads had this aim and most 
of them had Pacific in their names. 

In 1889 the Great Northern Railroad started on 
its great plan of running through directly to the 
Pacific. This road was a combination of the Mani- 
toba and other railroads running in that direction 
and was established in 1878 when the Dutch in- 
terests were bought up. The scheme was so 
immense that no one but a great mind could 
have carried it through. This mind belonged to 
the railroad giant James J. Hill, who had come 
to St. Paul from Canada when he was seven- 
teen years old, poor and without friends. Like 
most boys he was a dreamer, only he dreamed 
when he was awake and worked the dream 
out. 

This road made a new era in western railroad 
building, and all through the system down to the 
smallest detail was felt the influence of its president. 
He changed grades, used steel instead of iron, 
climbed over mountains, threw bridges over the 



Getting from Place to Place 253 

rivers and gorges and tunneled far deep into the 
earth. 

With the coming of railroads and particularly 
of this one, which tapped all the farming dis- 
tricts, all the lumber districts, all the mining 
districts, and with the use of our great water 
power, came the rush of settlers — thousands of 
people from our home country as well as from 
foreign lands. Where there had been only small 
towns, vast unoccupied prairies, dense forests with 
here and there a settler's cabin; great cities began 
to spring up and we can see today along the rail- 
road line the result, not only in our own State but 
in the Dakotas and Iowa as well. 

Fifty years ago there wasn't a railroad in our 
Minnesota, today there are thirty-eight systems, 
nine thousand miles of track and almost sixty 
thousands of people working on the railroads and 
trains, coming in and going out from hundreds of 
stations every hour of the day. 

So the old times passed away, and instead of be- 
ing pioneers in Minnesota, we became a modern peo- 
ple with the frontier moving ever toward the West. 

The Great Lake 

During all this time we must not forget that Lake 
Superior was used by people from the time when 



254 Our Minnesota 

Radisson and Groseilliers, the first of all white men 
on its waters, came along its north shore in their 
birch canoes, and that Du Luth and other early 
comers crossed it many times in their voyages 
from the East. 

In 1770 a barge rigged with sails, for the naviga- 
tion of the lake, was on Lake Superior, and a few 
years later a sloop was sailing there for work in the 
mines. This proved a failure, but by 1800 there 
were four or five sailboats which ran regularly 
from Pine Point to Grand Portage. 

In 1765 the English law required all the traders 
to have a license, and Alexander Henry, the 
grandfather of Norman Kittson, had the sole 
right to trade on Lake Superior. His diary tells 
of the trade which even then made Grand Portage 
a city; the trading companies running regular 
canoe lines which carried passengers as well as 
freight from Mackinaw clear into the wilds of 
Canada. 

Before 1800 Grand Portage was the western end 
of a canoe route which extended from Montreal 
eighteen hundred miles away. The first time 
that the United States flag was borne into Lake 
Superior it was at the head of three great twelve- 
oar barges with an outfit for dozens of people on 
that long trip which Governor Cass took in 1826. 
This must have been a grand procession as it 



Getting from Place to Place 255 

rounded into the great lake whose southern shore 
was to float that flag forever. 

The traffic on Lake Superior has changed as 
much as on the other roads, for the Great Lake 
carries more freight than any railroad in the State 
and the huge whalebacks, which look like their 
names as they silently plunge through the deep 
with the foaming water lashing over their backs, 
carry very precious cargoes. These boats are mys- 
terious looking, for it does seem as though they are 
half -fish and half-animal. When you pass by one or 
see one lying beside a dock receiving its immense 
cargo of freight, it is almost fearsome and makes 
you think of the Minotaur in the story of old Crete, 
who swallowed whatever came near. 

The immense Great Northern freight boats, four 
hundred feet long, the largest freighters in the world, 
carry each one as much as ten whole railroad trains. 
We do indeed cast our bread upon the waters in 
these great boats and they carry too, the ore from 
the northern mines, coming back loaded largely 
with coal, though as a matter of fact they carry 
everything from diamonds to a grand piano. 
They always go in pairs as though they were 
alive and wanted company like sea gulls, one forg- 
ing ahead with the engines continually throbbing 
and doing all the work, while the other like a meek 
and humble consort as it is called, goes behind, 



/ 



256 



Our Minnesota 



apparently not attached at all, and only by looking 
closely can one see now and then above the water 
when a wave recedes, the great cable which connects 
them. 

It's a long way from the little old single track 
with its puffing, blustering locomotive of four wheels 
hauling one car, to the palace train of today which 
moves almost faster than the mind . of man. 
"William Crooks" looks like a pigmy beside the 
great mogul with its six driving wheels which pull 
its heavy loads to the tops of the mountains and 
across the distance from sea to sea. It's even a 
longer way from the birch canoe of the Indian or 
the Red River ox-cart to the modern railroad and 
freighter of today. But we have traveled all that 
road in less than a hundred years, and the road 
means progress all the way. 




Red River Ox-Cart 



THE MISSISSIPPI 

Onward rolls the Royal River, proudly sweeping 

to the sea, 
Dark and deep and grand, forever wrapt in myth 

and mystery. 
Now he laughs along the highlands, leaping o'er the 

granite walls; 
Now he sleeps among the islands, where the loon 

her lover calls. 
Still like some huge monster winding downward 

through the prairied plains, 
Seeking rest but never finding, till the tropic gulf he 

gains. 

• • • • • • • 

Still, methinks, the dusky shadows of the days that 
are no more. 

Stalk around the lakes and meadows, haunting oft 
the wonted shore : 

And beside the mound where buried lies the dark- 
eyed maid he loved. 

Some tall warrior, wan and wearied, in the misty 
moonlight moves. 

See — he stands erect and lingers — stoic still, but 
loth to go — 

Clutching in his tawny fingers feathered shaft and 
polished bow. 



257 



258 Our Minnesota 

thou dark, mysterious River, speak and tell thy 

tales to me ; 
Seal not up thy lips forever — veiled in mist and 
mystery. 

1 will sit and lowly listen at the phantom-haunted 

falls 
Where thy waters foam and glisten o*er the rugged, 

rocky walls, 
Till some spirit of the olden, mystic, weird, romantic 

days 
Shall emerge and pour her golden tales and legends 

through my lays. 
Then again the elk and bison on thy grassy bank 

shall feed, 
And along the low horizon shall the plumed hunter 

speed ; 
Then again on lake and river shall the silent birch 

canoe 
Bear the brave with bow and quiver on his way to 

war or woo : 
Then the beaver on the meadow shall rebuild his 

broken wall, 
And the gaunt wolf chase his shadow, and his mate 

the panther call. 
From the prairies and the regions where the pine- 
plumed forest grows 
Shall arise the tawny legions with their lances and 

their bows. Hanford L. Gordon. 



CHAPTER XIV 

THE FATHER OF WATERS AND TEN THOUSAND LAKES 

As far back as we can learn of man he has used 
the great rivers of the world. The streams and 
lakes of Minnesota feed two rivers, and a third, — 
the greatest of all in this hemisphere and the longest 
in the world, with the streams which flow into it, 
rises in our own State and flows through it almost 
from north to south. When it leaves us it goes 
down past all the central states of our country into 
the Gulf of Mexico. 

What it must have been like ages ago, when, 
alone in its splendor, it rolled all the way through 
its hundreds of miles, with only the unbroken 
forests and grassy meadows lying on either side, 
the silence absolute except for the winds in the 
trees, the songs of the birds and now and then a 
wild animal coming down to drink! 

How different it all is today! And yet, it was 
only fifty years after Columbus first came to our 
country, that a Spaniard named Hernando De 
Soto, working from Florida through the untrodden 

259 



26o Our Minnesota 

wilds, came out at last upon the shores of the 
mighty Mississippi. Before he could go back to 
Europe to tell what he had seen, he died beside this 
same great river, and was buried beneath its waves, 
for his followers were afraid to leave his grave 
where it might be seen, lest the Indians should find 
out that they were without a leader. 

So the southern part of the Mississippi River was 
claimed by the Spanish, the middle and northern 
part left alone to the Indians who loved it and who 
lived along its edges, used its waters for getting 
from place to place, and buried their dead on its 
banks. 

The early French explorers about Michigan and 
Superior heard of a great river to the west, and 
Jean Nicolet spoke in his writing of wanting to find 
it. Radisson and Groseilliers had surely seen the 
Mississippi because they talked of a "grand river, " 
and we think that they journeyed from Knife Lake 
near Mille Lac to the river near Minneapolis, in 
1660. In their selfishness in not wanting other 
explorers to take away the trade which they 
hoped to get for themselves, they kept it a mystery 
and gave us no idea of the river's location. 

The early missionaries met Sioux Indians who 
gave them *' marsh rye," the name they used for 
wild rice, and they told of the "Father of Waters, " 
which they called Messipi or Meschepe. 



The Father of Waters 261 

While P^re Marquette was at La Pointe his 
adventurous spirit was stirred with stories of a 
great river where they used canoes with wings. 
The book which the Jesuit Fathers wrote, speaks 
of Indian tales of a river, greater and wider than the 
St. Lawrence. The French of course knew the St. 
Lawrence well, for on its shores were the settle- 
ments of Montreal and Quebec, and they used it 
as their main road for getting to the frontier. We 
may be sure that many adventurers pined to go to 
the shore of that river of mystery to see for them- 
selves whether the Indian stories were true. 

Pere Marquette, after he left his mission at La 
Pointe must have asked Frontenac, the great 
governor of Canada, to let him take up the work of 
converting the heathen far away to the west. 
Those early missionaries loved adventure and the 
spice of danger and wild life which came with the 
work, and it must have been a joy to them to live 
the life they loved, at the same time doing the work 
they loved just as well. 

At any rate Marquette and Joliet were sent out 
to find the great river, and crossing by the Fox 
and Wisconsin route came to the shores of the 
stream they were looking for, near Prairie du 
Chien, on June 17, 1673. We give the date be- 
cause it is so important, as that day was the first 
one we know of when any white man had gazed on 



262 Our Minnesota 

that river in the north. They went far enough 
down the stream to be sure it was the one which 
flows into the Gulf of Mexico. 

The gay figure of La Salle came next. Frontenac 
found him in this country, when he came to be the 
most important governor that France had ever 
sent over here. He saw La Salle's love of adventure 
and his fitness for it, sending him back to France to 
get money and permission from the king to explore 
and gain new land and fame for France. La Salle 
came back to Canada with permission to explore 
and also to pay all his expenses by trading. You 
remember this journey of his with Father Hennepin 
and his company, and how in 1680 they camped near 
Peoria. 

Then while Hennepin went up the Mississippi, La 
Salle went down the river all the way to its mouth. 
What a wonderful trip that must have been and 
how amazed the voyagers when they passed the 
mouth of the broad Ohio, coming in to swell the 
Mississippi, which they were on, and from the west 
to meet the Missouri, that no one dreamed came 
from such a far northern land and which flowing 
into it, makes the Mississippi the longest river in 
the world. 

This trip of La Salle's was much delayed but in 
1682 he planted the banner of France at the mouth 
of the mighty stream and claimed it all, from its 



The Father of Waters 263 

unknown source to its many deltaed mouth, in the 
name of his country. He put up a tall cross, also 
a wooden post with the arms of France and under 
them "Louis, the king of France and Navarre 
reigns. " K Te Deum was sung and all the fol- 
lowers shouted "Long live the king!" He named 
the new land "Louisiane. " Seventeen years later 
D' Iberville who founded New Orleans came across 
the delta, Le Sueur coming with him. This was 
the first time anyone had entered the river from 
the gulf. 

Meanwhile we must not forget that Hennepin was 
on his way up the river, entering it at the mouth of 
the Illinois, where he met the Sioux Indians 
with whom he had such an interesting, but not 
always happy stay. During this time he had the 
first wonderful sight of St. Anthony Falls, making 
new discoveries all the way up to the place where 
the city of Minneapolis now stands. 

At the same time another great adventurer was 
north on Lake Superior. This was Du Luth, the 
free-lance trader who the same spring that Hennepin 
started up the river, went exploring with four 
French and two Indian guides. He paddled up 
the Bois Brule River, packed across to the St. 
Croix down which he floated and found the Missis- 
sippi where the two rivers meet at Point Douglas. 
So you see from St. Anthony Falls to the Gulf of 



264 Our Minnesota 

Mexico the great river had been discovered by 
Frenchmen, and the whole distance traveled be- 
tween 1680 and 1682. 

Within the next few years Le Sueur, whom we 
saw on the river with Perrot, took a canoe trip as 
far north as Sandy Lake, which he thought was 
the river's source. 

For the next hundred years traders come and go 
along the mighty stream which was so important 
in settling the country. 

The long war between France and England, you 
remember, gave the east bank of the river to 
England and the west bank to Spain, and when we 
became independent of course the English land 
came to us. During all this time, before and after 
the United States was an independent country, 
we had trouble on the Mississippi. You see this 
was the only trade route we had, as there were no 
wagon roads, no railroads, and no telegraphs, 
everything being floated down the river on fiat- 
boats. Our traders complained of duties which 
they had to pay, of goods stolen and of being 
arrested for no cause. This trouble was especially 
at New Orleans. 

While Washington was president he saw great 
danger from enemies on the other side of the river 
and when Spain later handed over the whole 
country west of the Mississippi to France, it looked 



The Father of Waters 265 

for a little while as though our trade might be 
ruined and the Union itself broken up, because there 
isn't very much use in owning one side of a river if 
an enemy or an unfriendly power owns the other 
side, for nothing is safe from one day to another. 

So when Jefferson was president he asked Rob- 
ert Livingston, our Minister to France, and James 
Monroe to see what could be done about the 
trouble at New Orleans and whether it was possible 
to buy enough land at the mouth of the river to 
unload our goods and take them across to the Gulf 
of Mexico, for we had learned that the "right of 
deposit" was not respected. 

At this time Napoleon was hard up and was very 
much afraid of England, so to settle the matter, 
after a good deal of debate, he offered the whole of 
Louisiana, saying that we might have all of it or 
none of it. Spain objected, in fact a good many of 
the people in the United States objected, but in 1803 
we bought it just the same, for what people con- 
sidered was an immense sum and which was really 
less than three cents an acre. 

This is the way we gained power over the whole 
of the Mississippi River and from this time on, no 
one could interfere with our commerce. Along the 
banks of the Mississippi since then, have gathered 
millions of people and down it ever float millions 
of dollars' worth of goods. Canoes, flatboats and 



266 Our Minnesota 

steamers have succeeded one another, and one by 
one, bordering along its edges, ten great states have 
been added to the Union. 

We gained the ownership of most of our own State 
in 1803 and one of our greatest historians has called 
the river "the guardian and pledge of all the states 
in the Union. " 

Here in Minnesota we think that the Father of 
Waters belongs to us especially, for we are not only 
the head of navigation but the great river itself is 
born here. There have been many bitter disputes, 
as well as much interest over the question of just 
where the river does rise. As early as Wash- 
ington's time David Thompson, agent of the 
Northwest Company, reached Turtle Lake in Bel- 
trami County and was sure that he had discovered 
the source of the river. 

When all the land as far as the Mississippi was 
added to Michigan Territory in 18 19, Governor 
Cass was anxious to see the new country, so he 
started out with a large exploring party, among 
them Schoolcraft, a geologist, to whom he paid a 
dollar and fifty cents a day, and who wrote the story 
of the expedition. The party went as far as Red 
Cedar Lake which they called Cass Lake in honor 
of the Governor, returning to Michigan by the 
Wisconsin and Fox rivers. 

In 1823, the government sent Major Long with 



The Father of Waters 267 

a party to explore the Minnesota River and the 
northern boundary of the United States, and at 
Fort Snelling an Italian, J. Constantine Beltrami, 
joined the party, which worked its way along the 
Minnesota and Red rivers to Pembina and re- 
turned by way of our northern boundary, learning 
much that was valuable about the country, all 
of which was reported to the United States 
Government. 

The Italian gentleman, Beltrami, who had started 
up with Major Long, wanted to be a great explorer 
and to follow in the path of his countryman, Chris- 
topher Columbus, so he had come to America to find 
the true source of the Mississippi River, and met 
Major Taliaferro who was coming to Fort Snell- 
ing as Indian agent. The agent asked Beltrami to 
come with him and they arrived on the first 
steamer which ever came up the river, in 1823. 

The Italian was evidently a peevish and critical 
person and hard to get along with, for he left the 
Long party at Pembina, and engaged some Indians 
to take him over to the place where he thought he 
would find what he was looking for, the source of 
the great river. He had a very hard trip for his 
guides deserted him, and he was obliged to travel 
alone for many long days. 

He tells how hard it was for him to paddle his 
canoe and for weary miles he pulled it, wading in 



268 ^Our Minnesota 

the river, and testing the depths each step with his 
paddle. Finally he met an old Ojibway whom he 
engaged to guide him on his trip. 

After a long search he climbed, an elevation 
where he said he saw lakes in all directions, and 
streams flowing four ways. One little heart- 
shaped lake he named Julia, and he was sure 
that this was the source of the great river as it 
had no outlet, and he thought that the water ran 
under ground to both the Red and Mississippi 
rivers. This was probably Turtle Lake. 

He wrote the story of his journey after he re- 
turned, and for some time it was thought that he 
had discovered the head waters. During his 
travels he wrote a number of letters to an Italian 
Countess, and these are most interesting descrip- 
tions of that part of the State through which he 
went. The northern county, where is the greater 
part of Red Lake, is named for him. 

Henry Schoolcraft who was with Governor Cass in 
1820, had never been sure that Cass Lake was the 
real source, and being careful to get things right and 
too polite to tell the rest of the party that he thought 
they were wrong, he was always anxious to go 
further in his search. He was Indian agent at the 
**Soo" in 1832 when he was sent out to visit the 
Indians west, to vaccinate them, and to cultivate 
friendship with them generally. 



The Father of Waters 269 

Lieutenant Allen was the military escort of this 
party, one of whom was Bout well, the Leech Lake 
missionary, and the guide was an Ojibway called 
the Yellow Head, from whom a river has been 
named. The party hadn't been told to look for the 
source of the Mississippi but they went on a search 
for it all the same, and found that beyond the lake 
which Beltrami had seen was another, still higher, 
which they decided was the source. They landed 
on a beautiful island which they named for School- 
craft, put up a flagstaff and for the first time the 
stars and stripes flashed over the head of the great 
river. 

The party had noticed a little stream flowing 
into Cass Lake from the west and exploring this, 
found the lake which they were convinced was 
*'the true source of the Mississippi." They 
partially examined this lake and the shores around 
it, and finding no inlet were satisfied. Schoolcraft, 
anxious to have a fitting name for the source, was 
puzzling over it and asked Bout well, who was a Latin 
scholar, to suggest one ; so he wrote down " Veritas, " 
which means truth, and ' ' caput, ' ' which means head. 
Cutting off the head of one word and the tail of the 
other, we have left "Itasca," which most people 
think is from the Indian and surely is beautiful 
enough to be. The Little Mississippi where it first 
starts from this lake is twenty feet wide and two 



2JO Our Minnesota 

feet deep, and doesn't look very much like the 
great river farther south. 

The famous astronomer, Nicollet, visited the 
missionary Boutwell who was still living at Leech 
Lake in 1836 and explored Lake Itasca. He found 
five brooks leading into it and beyond them, two 
small lakes which he called the "true source.'* 
People still were not satisfied, many others claim- 
ing that they had discovered the head of the 
river, so in 1889 the Minnesota Historical Society 
and the State Legislature sent J. V. Brower of 
St. Cloud to settle the matter. After very 
careful study his party found what was called the 
** greater reservoir" made up of many small 
lakes. 

Now before this, as long ago as 1804, William 
Morrison, who with his brother, was a trader at 
Grand Portage, had visited these lakes, and al- 
though his discovery was not made public for many 
years afterward, most people believe that he was 
the first white man to see the source of the Mis- 
sissippi. 

He was asked about his trip and wrote a letter to 
his brother, Allan Morrison, in 1856, telling him 
that leaving Grand Portage, he had reached Leech 
Lake in 1802. The next year he went by Red 
Cedar or Cass Lake into what was later named 
Itasca. He saw nothing which made him think 




" The Infant Mississippi," Itasca Park 
(By courtesy of the Secretary of State of Minnesota) 



The Father of Waters 271 

that any white man had been there before, and 
visited the same place again in 1811 and 181 2, 
finding five little streams that empty into the lake. 

The little Mississippi when it first appears at the 
very head water is only two feet wide and one foot 
deep, but we still call Lake Itasca the source of our 
river and this has been settled by law as the source. 
Mr. Morrison was probably the first one to see the 
lake and one of the lakes at the extreme head of 
the source has been named for him, but School- 
craft was the first man who knew that Itasca was 
the head of the river, and is called the discoverer. 

The country about Itasca is so rough that it is 
hard to travel for the portages are very long, and 
the woods are dense; the forests of pine — red, white 
and jack pine, cedar, oak and willow, and there are 
many swamps. It is no wonder that the little river 
in its haste to get away from this lonely place, 
doesn't know just which way to turn so it flows 
northeast into, or making Irving and Bemidji 
lakes, then goes east through Cass and the great 
Winnibigoshish, where it starts on its long trip 
south for twenty-five hundred and fifty- three miles. 
It never stops but ceaselessly flows on, gaining 
always in strength, widening out at Red Wing 
into Lake Pepin, forty miles long; and leaves our 
State at La Crescent, rolling on beyond, until 
it is lost in the Gulf of Mexico. This is not an idle 



272 Our Minnesota 

pleasure trip all the way for there are many places 
where the Father of Waters is harnessed to help do 
our work — at Grand Rapids, where the Pokegama 
Falls make the current very swift, several places 
in between, and at St. Anthony, where as much 
work is done by the river to run the mills and give 
power to the street-car system as could be done by 
forty-eight thousand horses all harnessed together. 

Minnesota might well be called the "Water 
State" for not only does the great Mississippi flow 
through the center like a water god attended on all 
sides by tributaries which come from the thousands 
of lakes within our borders, but you remember, our 
State is almost surrounded by water besides. Only 
on the southern border is there a long straight line 
because it was made by man and is not the beauti- 
ful natural boundary of blue river with a green 
edge made by God. 

On the north, the south shore of Lake of the 
Woods and Rainy River as well as Rainy Lake 
belong to us and those lakes south and east of 
Rainy Lake are the most picturesque places you 
can imagine. There are hundreds of these lakes 
connected by little streams ending in Pigeon River, 
which falls, just before it gets to Lake Superior, 
one hundred and forty feet, bounding through a 
narrow gorge in many foaming cascades. All the 
way down the north shore of Lake Superior to 



The Father of Waters 273 

Duluth there are cascades — at Tofte, at Temper- 
ance River, at the Baptism and many other places, 
making a scene of wonder and of beauty. 

At International Falls on Rainy Lake, as much 
power is used from the water as fifteen thousand 
horses harnessed together could give, and this 
power lights the city and runs a paper mill. The 
St. Louis River, which flows into Lake Superior, 
near Duluth, with its great fall of seventy feet in one 
mile, is used too, at Cloquet for the mills there. 

On the west the Red River of the North, which 
rises in Lake Traverse, has been used for boats for 
many years. You remember that in 1859 a steam- 
boat went up the Mississippi River to Pokegama. 
In the spring it was taken to pieces at Crow 
Wing, and carried clear across the country by 
wagons to the Red River. It was the first steam- 
boat on that river, and the first trip down, in 
charge of Captain Bell, had a queer time. The river 
was full of boulders at Goose Rapids so the men 
had to get out and dig holes just ahead of the 
great rocks. Then the boat shoved the rocks into 
the holes and passed over them. After that trouble 
was over they stuck on a sand-bar and had to make 
a dam before they could go any farther. This 
dam was made by putting cotton-wood logs together 
for a raft, then driving great stakes into the 
river bottom and filling it with brush. Slowly the 

z8 



274 Ou^" Minnesota 

water rose and suddenly, without any warning, 
the boat shot over the sand-bar and into deep 
water. While the people were waiting, the food al- 
most gave out and Captain Blakeley saved their 
lives, or at least the pleasure of the trip, by ap- 
pearing, it seemed from nowhere, with a pocket 
full of fish-hooks and lines, which they put to 
very good use. 

The Minnesota "Skyey Water, " after which the 
State is named, rises in Big Stone Lake, which our 
western boundary is made to fit, and, you remember, 
was first explored by Le Sueur on his famous mining 
trip. Jonathan Carver spent the winter of 1766 
on its banks near New Ulm, and Long and most 
of our early explorers followed its winding way. 
There were old trading posts on its banks at 
Traverse des Sioux, Lac qui Parle, and Little 
Rapids. We are told that the lakes, which feed 
this and the other rivers on our west lie in the 
channel of the outflow of the great Lake Agassiz, 
once a glacier or great field of ice which covered 
all that part of the State. The Ojibways call this 
the ''River of the Green Leaf," perhaps on ac- 
count of the beautiful trees which once bordered 
its banks and were reflected in the water. 

In 1 819 our friends the Selkirk settlers came down 
on snow shoes from 'way up north near Winnipeg, 
traveling a thousand miles to get seed wheat. 



The Father of Waters 275 

They went back by this river in Mackinaw boats, 
with both oars and sails, taking with them two 
hundred bushels of wheat, one hundred of oats and 
thirty bushels of peas. They dragged these heavy 
boats over the portage at Brown's Valley between 
Big Stone Lake and Lake Traverse and floated 
down home, for the Red River, you remember, 
flows north all its length, but the Minnesota flows 
southeast most of the way and turns northeast 
at Mankato for the last part of its journey. 

Our lakes in Minnesota were formed in many 
different ways, some of them in the hollows, formed 
by the old glacier; others from rivers widening out 
or backing up ; and others still from springs beneath 
the surface. Most of them are charming, sur- 
rounded by woods or grassy meadows, their sur- 
faces dotted with lilies, and the shores and bottoms 
gleaming with carnelians and agates which look 
like rare gems. 

These lakes are of great value to us because they 
keep the climate temperate, they give us an easy 
as well as pleasant way of getting from place to 
place ; and most important of all they give us good, 
clear spring water throughout the State. 

They also furnish homes for numbers of fish, 
besides giving food and drink to the many kinds of 
animals and birds in our woods. Nowhere else in 
our country do we find so many lakes and the Lake 



276 Our Minnesota 

Park Region, which spreads out like a fan in Otter- 
tail and Becker Counties, is one of the lovely 
places of the world; so we ought to feel very thank- 
ful that our State has so much of this water, which 
is necessary for all kinds of life, and that it is 
beautiful as well. 



CHAPTER XV , 

TROUBLOUS TIMES 

We had our troubles in Minnesota during 
the years of development. One of the sad things 
which happened when everything seemed prosper- 
ous was a terrible explosion in Minneapolis in 1878, 
when the great Washburn Mill was absolutely 
destroyed, although it was built of stone more 
than two feet thick. Two other mills blew up and 
three more were burned as a result of the explo- 
sion which came from fire reaching the dust with 
which the mills were filled. In this awful mis- 
fortune eighteen men were killed and millions 
of dollars' worth of property destroyed. 

Another aJBfliction was tornadoes, or as we call 
them cyclones, great wind storms which tear up 
and destroy everything in their paths. They 
usually come suddenly after a heavy muggy day of 
heat. The sky gets dark and a dull cloud with 
green, curling edges appears, turning sometimes to 
copper color, then with a dull roar, like thousands of 
angry beasts, the cyclone comes. 

277 



278 Our Minnesota 

Trees crash, rivers are scooped out of their 
channels, houses are smashed to kindling wood, 
birds are skinned; animals scattered far and wide, 
and people are swept in the path of the monster 
before they know what has happened. The 
cyclones last only from three to ten minutes but 
the destruction that they make takes many years 
to repair. The windfalls in the forests of early 
days tell the path of these storms, but the ruin 
later is so much greater because of the towns and 
people in the way. 

In 1877, the little village of Cottage Grove was 
visited by one of these storms and houses were 
blown down and a lake, mud and water and all, 
was blown to the top of a hill. 

Four years afterward in Renville County eleven 
people were killed and three towns destroyed. 
New Ulm, which seemed to be fated, suffered again, 
for two storms came together there and almost every 
building was damaged and the cathedral ruined. A 
few years later, 1883, a cyclone swept the southern 
counties, destroyed the town of Elgin and lifted up a 
railroad train, dropping it thirty feet from the track, 
and of course injuring many people. The same 
year, Rochester, the city which is a center for so 
many activities, had a terrible cyclone which de- 
stroyed three hundred houses, unroofed most of the 
business buildings and killed thirty-five people. 



Troublous Times 279 

The next year the St. Croix valley and afterward 
St. Cloud were visited by terrible cyclones where 
seventy people were killed. 

But the worst storm came in 1890 when one 
hundred young people coming home from an excur- 
sion by boat on Lake Pepin were all drowned. 
The boat was struck by the cyclone cloud suddenly, 
and all the towns around the lakes were in mourning 
for their sons and daughters. 

In 1904 one of these great storms came down 
the Mississippi River and struck St. Paul, de- 
stroying trees, chimneys, houses, and flooding the 
business district, with a loss of over a million 
dollars. There were many more of these storms. 

The most terrible calamity which has come 
to our State since the Sioux massacre was the forest 
fire of 1894. The summer had been very dry and 
everything in the forests was like powder, ready to 
go off at the touch of a spark. For days the air had 
been heavy with smoke, and from the north, birds 
had been flocking into the streets of Duluth and 
the northern towns showing that there was trouble 
in the woods. 

The Great Northern passenger train which left 
Duluth early in the afternoon, met fires in the 
forest nov7 and then, and before it came to Hinckley 
the air looked as though it were on fire, — a dull 
dark red, like brick dust. Here and there, the trees 



28o Our Minnesota 

looked like Christmas trees ablaze and sometimes 
the fire jumped from one to the other. 

The passengers were all relieved when they 
arrived at Hinckley until they learned that there 
was fire beyond at Pine City and the train could 
go no further. 

Suddenly like a flash, the town was on fire and 
fairly melted before one's eyes, the fire not seeming 
to be in any particular spot. There was a freight 
train standing at the station and the conductor 
coupled three box cars to the passenger train, 
threw out some of the freight and baggage, put 
on the freight engine and filled the whole train 
with refugees. Five hundred and seventy-two 
people started back toward Duluth, and through 
the scene which many had thought unsafe an hour 
before. 

At Sandstone people refused to get on the train, 
thinking that they were safer at home. That night 
there wasn't a building left in the town and there 
were many dead. When the train came to the long 
trestle over Kettle River the bridge was on fire, 
but there was nothing to do but go on so the 
brave engineer went ahead as fast as possible, just 
getting to firm ground as the burning bridge fell 
behind the train into the deep ravine. Each little 
town on the way was in danger and many of them 
were wiped out, and when everyone thought that 



Troublous Times 281 

the road was safe there was a big fire beside the 
track at Superior. The train came back to Duluth 
at midnight bringing with it most of what was left 
of Hinckley. 

Meanwhile the Northern Pacific train from 
Duluth had been warned, a few miles before it 
reached Hinckley, by over one hundred people who 
had left the town. The train ran back to Skunk 
Lake which it reached just in time. The passengers 
fled before the flames into the lake and swamp 
where they stayed for hours before relief came, 
while the empty train on the track was burned up. 
About two hundred were killed at Hinckley, and it 
is supposed that about four hundred and fifty in 
all lost their lives in this awful fire. 

Duluth was turned into a great relief camp. 
The people slept in the churches and public build- 
ings until it was safe to return to their ruined towns 
and build new homes. The State gave aid to the 
people, as of course it should, giving lumber 
for homes and helping in many other practical 
ways. The towns were rebuilt and today only a 
second growth of timber with here and there a 
patch of evergreen, showing where the fire jumped, 
is left to tell the dreadful story; but the lives that 
were lost can never be replaced. 

There have been forest fires since, the most 
destructive ones along the Iron Range and the 



282 Our Minnesota 

north shore of Lake Superior. In 1909 the towns 
of Spooner and Baudette were wiped out in a fire 
which lasted for days. Thirty lives were lost and 
property worth two millions of dollars destroyed. 

In 1898 there was a war between the United 
States and Spain. We didn't like the way Spain 
was treating Cuba to whom she had been very 
cruel for many years, overtaxing her and waging 
war against the Cuban people, who rebelled. 

Many Americans owned property in Cuba in the 
sugar fields and these were just about ruined. 
Worst of all, one of our battleships, the Mai7ie, 
which was sent down to protect our people and 
property, was blown up in the harbor of Havana, 
and everyone on board was killed. When we asked 
for an explanation, Spain was very indifferent and 
finally the war had to come. 

Again as in the Civil War, Minnesota was the 
first of all the states to offer troops and exactly 
thirty-eight years to a day from the time that the 
first regiment enlisted at Fort Snelling in 1861, the 
Minnesota volunteers again enlisted in the United 
States service. They were camped on the State 
Fair Grounds, which were turned for the time into 
Camp Ramsey. This was the twenty-ninth of 
April, 1898. 

The Twelfth, Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fif- 
teenth regiments of Minnesota volunteers were 



Troublous Times 283 

recruited here, the last not until July, 1898. The 
Twelfth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth were sent to 
the south but did not leave our country. They 
lost a number through disease and were just as 
patriotic as though they had gone to battle, which 
of course they volunteered for. 

The Thirteenth Regiment under the command of 
Colonel Charles Mac C. Reeve was sent to the 
Philippines and took part in the battle of Manila 
Harbor where Admiral Dewey took the Spanish 
fleet and was in active service all through the war, 
returning home a year and a half after, covered 
with glory. 

It was strange that again at the same time that 
we were at war, the Indians should make trouble 
as they did in October, 1898. A number of the 
Pillager band, the fiercest of all the Chippewas, 
live on the Leech Lake Reservation and the "Bear 
Islanders" live rather apart from the other Indians 
and are heathen blanket Indians. They had gotten 
into trouble before this, and the troops had been 
sent against them but they had quickly submitted 
at the sight of the United States soldiers. 

In 1898 the trouble was more serious and was 
the result of a good deal of hard feeling in re- 
gard to cutting timber on reservation land. The 
Bear Islanders refused to give up two of their band 
who had been arrested and the troops from Fort 



284 Our Minnesota 

Snelling were sent against them. It was thought 
that they would give up easily, as they had be- 
fore, and so not enough soldiers were sent and they 
weren't afraid of the small number. They wouldn't 
let the soldiers have the men they came for, and at 
Sugar Point had a battle where six of our men were 
killed and several wounded. The Indians, instead 
of being severely punished when they were arrested, 
were allowed to go free, and the people who lived 
in that district were panic-stricken and didn't 
think that their lives were safe, so for protection 
some of the troops were left there for a while. 
Since then the Indians have been quiet and have 
made little trouble, but none of us can think that 
they have much respect for the United States 
troops when they weren't punished for making war 
on them. 




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CHAPTER XVI 
How THE State Cares for her Children 

EDUCATION 

Long before there were any white people in 
Minnesota, the education of the children who were 
to be here some day was arranged for by what 
we call the "Ordinance of 1787," which decided 
that for all the children, who were ever coming 
into any of the Northwest Territory, there should 
be free labor, free religion, and education. 

When the United States surveyed its new land, 
you remember, it divided it all up into sections, 
each one mile square. Now the western states 
asked the United States to give them one section 
out of every township to be used for education. Of 
course that does not mean that they had to build a 
schoolhouse on each section, though they often did, 
for they usually took number sixteen, which is near 
the middle of the township. This was a good place 
to have a school, to vote and for public meetings 
generally, but whether they used it for a school or 
not the money was spent for education. 

285 



286 Our Minnesota 

When Minnesota came to be a territory, it asked 
the United States for two sections out of every 
township for schools, and so our public land, or the 
sale of it, made us very rich. The United States 
used to sell the land for one dollar and a quarter 
an acre, which was very cheap, and so we decided 
that we should not sell school lands for less than 
five dollars an acre and that we should not sell them 
all at once any way because, you see, the land might 
go up in price. 

Governor Ramsey insisted that the income from 
these lands should always be for the use of the 
schools, and that we should use only the interest or 
income and never the money itself. Fortunately 
the school lands which were covered with forests, 
they did not sell in the early days though they 
did sell trees from them. Wasn't it wonderful 
that, after the timber was cut off of the northern 
part of this State, they should find iron ore under- 
neath the surface? In 1889, Minnesota passed 
a law that this school land should not be sold for 
fifty years but should be rented to the miners 
and that the schools should get twenty-five cents 
for every ton of iron ore mined, so now our State 
has an income of many millions every year, and 
this is called the School Fund. From one section 
where the Hill Mine is we get more money for our 
schools than Michigan, Wisconsin, and Iowa have 



Her Care for her Children 287 

ever gotten or ever will get from all the lands given 
to them for education. 

All children of the State, whether they live in 
crowded cities or far apart from one another, on 
farms or in little settlements, separated from one 
another, get an education paid for from this fund. 
The law is that everybody between the ages of 
five and twenty-one years old, who goes to school 
forty days during the year, shall be counted in 
giving out the State aid for schools. So you see 
how important it is that you should not be ab- 
sent from school excepting when you are sick 
or are really needed at home, because it might be 
that you would be absent so much that you would 
not be counted. In that case your school would 
teach you even if the State should not give the 
money, and no one wants to be a burden. 

Minnesota has made a law that every child under 
sixteen years, or until he is ready for the high school, 
must go to school, and our children begin to go 
when they are six years old. 

The first meeting of our territorial legislature 
talked about education and decided that we should 
have a superintendent of education, who was to get 
one hundred dollars a year. The first superintend- 
ent was the Reverend E. D. Neill, who, you re- 
member, was the chaplain of the First Minnesota 
Regiment as well as one of the first preachers in 



288 Our Minnesota 

Minnesota and he did more than anyone else to 
help our education in early days. 

Ten families make a school district and the 
story is told that years ago a man asked the county 
to establish a school in his district because there 
were ten children for whom there was no school- 
house. They made him county superintendent 
and when they went to visit the school, found that 
the children were all his own children, his wife 
was the teacher, and the schoolhouse was his own 
house. This may be true or not, but it might 
happen. 

In 1849, when the territory began, besides the 
missions which were kept up by the churches and 
not by the State, there were three public schools in 
Minnesota; one in Stillwater, one in St. Anthony, 
and one, which was two years old, in St. Paul. 

The first teacher besides the missionaries was 
Miss Harriet Bishop, who looked like a real old- 
fashioned schoolma'am. She wore a white lace 
collar with a great big, round breastpin and had 
three long curls of black hair falling over each 
ear. She loved her pupils, who were all gathered 
in the first schoolhouse which had been a black- 
smith shop; a log cabin chinked with mud and 
with pegs driven in between the logs for boards 
to rest on. These boards were seats, desks and all 
the furniture. There were sixteen children the 



Her Care for her Children 289 

first year and Governor Ramsey said, telling about 
his first visit to this school, that the white children 
were few and far between. 

In this schoolhouse they had the first public 
school meeting in 1849 so you see that year is a 
very important one to remember in Minnesota 
history. Two years later there were three schools 
in Ramsey County and four districts in Washing- 
ton County but no schools. As early as 1849 there 
was a United States Government school at Long 
Prairie which had two large rooms and a hand bell 
which much pleased the Indian children. The only 
way that the teacher could keep the children was to 
give them raisins at recess if they stayed that long. 
So you see school lunches were begun in Minnesota 
long before they were thought of in most places. 

Just compare the early education with that of 
today. Think of the beautiful schoolhouses you 
have, with plenty of light, and heat, and books 
which may be used by everyone ; and teachers who 
are specially prepared to tell you all about the 
things you want to know. 

The * 'consolidated schools," where any farming 
settlement may have a good, well-fitted building, 
several teachers, a larger library and more oppor- 
tunities than in a smaller school, were started in 
Minnesota in 191 1 and aim to make better farmers. 
The children drive long distances to go to one of 
10 



290 Our Minnesota 

these schools, and if our roads were better, as we 
hope they soon will be, there would be a great 
advantage in them. Though the people did not 
care for them at first, there are now sixty-five coun- 
ties in the State where the schools are consolidated. 
These are mostly in the north because the people 
in the south have been settled longer and are not 
so ready to take up new ideas. 

Early in our history Minnesota began to give 
money for school libraries, if the schools started 
them, and today, in every village or country settle- 
ment there may be good books and pictures for 
which the State pays half, and "traveling 
libraries" loan books all over the State, free except- 
ing for express. 

It is wonderful to realize that, no matter how far 
away from a great city we live, we may have a 
chance to be educated and not have to leave home 
for school as our fathers and mothers did. 

There are many children who cannot go to regu- 
lar schools because they are deaf or blind or cannot 
learn quite so fast as the usual children, and who 
need even more care than you who are able to run, 
and play, and see and hear the wonderful things 
all about you. The State takes care of these 
children and teaches them in a school in Faribault, 
where many are sent each year. They learn to be 
useful and happy men and women because, of 



Her Care for her Children 291 

course, the more you know, the more useful you 
are; and the more you are able to do, the happier 
you are. The deaf begin school at eight years, 
the blind at six, and both go until they are 
twenty-one. They learn the same things as other 
children and many practical and useful trades be- 
sides. The deaf are taught to use their eyes, so that 
they may see what people say, instead of hearing 
it and as no one is really dumb, they are taught to 
talk. Think what it means to a child who has 
never known what people were saying excepting 
by signs, to understand speech, and what a joy it 
must be to be able to speak! 

What about the blind children? They are 
taught to read by raised letters which they touch 
with their fingers and they learn very quickly. 
Besides regular studies they are taught to play and 
sing as almost all blind people love music and they 
make brooms, weave hammocks and do wonderful 
bead work and sewing. 

The State owns a great many books printed with 
raised letters for the blind, because blind children 
have to see with their fingers. If a child does not 
go to school at Faribault, these books may be sent 
to his home where he may read them and then send 
them back to be used by other children. So you 
see every blind child in the State may learn to read 
free of charge. 



292 Our Minnesota 

Other children who are crippled and cannot run 
and play may be sent to the State Hospital in 
St. Paul where, if possible, they are cured, and if 
that may not be, they are taught to do things for 
which walking about is not necessary. Near this 
school there are twenty-three acres at Phalen Park 
for playgrounds and here the children are out-of- 
doors whenever it is possible. 

Besides these children, there are others whose 
minds are slow and who ought not to be in a reg- 
ular school, because they can't learn quickly enough 
to keep up with the class, and the class can't be 
held back for them, so there is a special school in 
Faribault for those who are called defective or 
feeble-minded. 

It seems queer that the newest state schools are 
the high schools, which were not started until 1861, 
but they grew very fast, and today there are more 
than three hundred spread all over the State from 
the north to the south. 

Normal schools, where teachers learn to teach, 
were started the year before the Civil War broke 
out. The first one was started in i860 at Winona 
and now we have four others, at Mankato, St. 
Cloud, Moorhead, and Duluth. Most of our 
teachers in all of our schools learned how to 
teach at home, that is, in the home State. 

When the first schools for children were started, 



Her Care for her Children 293 

the people thought about a University too, and in 
1 85 1 they asked the United States for two whole 
townships for the University, and six years after- 
ward they asked for four more. The State put up 
a large university building which was empty for 
eight years, except for a few private pupils, for the 
Civil War broke out very soon and during the war 
there were no students because everybody old 
enough had gone to the front. 

After the war was over they opened the Uni- 
versity again. In 1867 there were thirty-one 
pupils, none of them ready for college, though two 
years later they had fourteen freshmen. Because 
the war was so fresh in everybody's minds, they 
planned to have all the students taught military 
drill and that is the way we came to have the cadets 
at the University. The first graduating class had 
two members. That was in 1873. By 1900 there 
were three thousand students in the University and 
now there are about six thousand. 

Very soon Minnesota realized that her people 
were going to be farmers and so an Agricultural 
School and College were started that they might 
learn how to farm in the best and easiest way. 
And this college has a great deal to do with the fact 
that our farmers are better than most in the West. 

Mr. John Pillsbury, whom you have met before 
in our history, as governor, a great miller, and many 



294 Our Minnesota 

other good things, is called the "Father of the 
University" because for thirty-eight years, and 
until he died in 1901, he seemed to live for the 
University, and he did so much for it that it came 
to be one of the first colleges of the country. 

He left the great building which bears his name, 
and on the campus, which is the University yard 
and playground, is a great bronze statue of him in 
memory of all he did for learning in our State. 

Today there are sixteen schools at the University 
and people may learn there how to be doctors, law- 
yers, druggists and chemists; and more important 
perhaps in our State, how to be farmers, miners, 
engineers and electricians, for the State gives an 
education to every boy or girl who cares enough to 
go to Minneapolis and study for it. The teaching 
there is free to all children of Minnesota, and more 
than that, the University has been lately taken into 
the homes of the people of the State by what is 
called the ''University Extension," which gives 
lectures and offers correspondence courses for 
practical work all over the State. 

There are many experimental farms in Minnesota, 
and dairy stations, where people may learn what are 
the best things to grow on any kind of soil, how to 
feed their cattle, to make butter and cheese and to 
get the most out of their farms. In this practical 
way Minnesota is ahead of many older states. 



Her Care for her Children 295 

The three great presidents of the University, 
Dr. Folwell, who really started its work, Dr. 
Northrup, who made it great, and Dr. Vincent, the 
present president, who is trying to spread learning 
into every nook and corner of Minnesota, are all 
living and are all still trying in word and deed to 
make the University helpful to everyone in 
Minnesota. 

In the last few years the people who have charge 
of schools in the State, have realized that it is better 
for us to learn how to use the things that we have 
in Minnesota, than to learn the same sort of things 
that they need in other places, which have been 
settled so long that they have not room to farm, 
to raise stock, or to mine. So in our schools we 
are teaching more useful things all the time and 
learning how to do well in school, what we have to 
do as soon as school is over. We are learning that 
what we read in books, ought to be just as useful 
when the book is shut, as when the book is open. 
That is one reason why every one of us ought to 
know what there is in our own dear State to enjoy, 
to use, and to develop so that in our hearts and in 
our minds, as well as in our work, we may believe 
in "Minnesota First." 

In this way we are going to raise a crop of men 
and women that is going to be better than all the 
other crops that our fertile State can produce, 



296 Our Minnesota 

because they are going to learn to use the State 
and all its riches to the best purpose. 

PROTECTION 

When children are orphans, or their fathers and 
mothers are not able to look after them, the State 
acts as though it were father and mother giving 
them a home and caring for them and bringing 
them up, until they are able to take care of them- 
selves and help to take care of others. This home 
is at Owatonna and many children live there from 
the time they are three years old until they are 
fourteen. 

The State cares for many people who are sick 
and cures them when possible. Scattered over our 
counties are camps for those who have tuber- 
culosis, which is contagious and needs fresh air for 
its cure, so the patients are taken to a camp where 
their own families are not in danger of getting the 
disease and where they may live out of doors most 
of the time. 

The people who are sick in their minds and 
are not responsible for what they do, are looked 
after in State hospitals or asylums at St. Peter, 
Rochester, Fergus Falls, Red Wing, Anoka, Hast- 
ings, and Willmar. 



Her Care for her Children 297 

REFORM 

When a boy or a girl does not behave and there 
is danger that he will not become a good citizen, 
unless he has special training, the State steps in and 
gives this special training, sending the boys to Red 
Wing, and the girls to Sauk Center, where they 
are taught besides regular lessons, useful trades, and 
where they learn self-respect so that they, too, may 
become useful. 

Many who never had a good start in life are here 
given a chance to learn right from wrong, for most 
people who break laws do so because they are 
ignorant, not because they are bad. 

Then there are two places where the State tries 
to reform men and women who have broken the 
laws, which have been made for us all. When 
anyone between the ages of sixteen and thirty com- 
mits a crime for the first time, he is sent to St. Cloud 
for reform, and there he stays until the people in 
authority think he may be trusted, learning all the 
time something useful and interesting. 

The people over thirty years and who have 
committed more than one crime are sent to 
prison at Stillwater. This prison was provided 
for by the first territorial legislature in 1849 and 
for many years had very few people in it but, 
of course, as many more good people came, more 



298 Our Minnesota 

who were not good came too; it has been neces- 
sary from time to time to add to the prison 
until in 1913 a new building was opened at 
South Stillwater. The idea of this prison is to 
make everybody feel that he has a chance in the 
future. All the prisoners have plenty of light, 
plenty of air, plenty of water and plenty of food, 
for the people in charge believe that it is easier to 
be good when you are clean and well fed, than when 
you are dirty and hungry. Everybody in the 
prison works all day long at a trade, most of them 
in an immense twine factory, and all have a chance 
to learn at a night school. There is a band com- 
posed of prisoners and they have lectures and plays 
and publish a paper. 

The State spends much money on the prison, 
because it hopes that in the future, after all that is 
done for her people, we shall have fewer criminals, 
for we shall all learn that when Minnesota does so 
much for us, the least we can do to repay her is 
to obey her laws. 

SOLDIERS* HOME 

On the banks of the Mississippi River near Minne- 
haha Falls is a home for the people who have given 
much to us and who are no longer able to take 
care of themselves because they are frail and aged. 



Her Care for her Children 299 

This is the Soldiers* Home where all the old 
soldiers who fought in the Civil War or the Spanish 
American War may find homes with rest and com- 
fort so long as they live. Here the veterans spend 
their days wandering up and down the beautiful 
park, or around their camp fire in one of the build- 
ings where they tell stories of the battles they fought 
years ago. 

We should all of us be very happy that we are 
able to take care of the people who so nobly 
defended us. 



CHAPTER XVII 
The Treasures of the Earth 

MINES 

The first mining which was done in Minnesota 
was by Le Sueur, to whom Louis XIV., the great 
and powerful king of France, gave permission to 
open all mines in his newly discovered country. 
You remember he found near Mankato the blue 
earth from which the river was named, and thinking 
that he had discovered copper, with a great load 
of this earth he sailed down to the mouth of the 
Mississippi River in a felucca. This was the first 
load of freight that ever went from Minnesota and 
it had a long journey of twenty-three hundred miles 
before it reached the Gulf. Before they left with 
this venture after a great fortune, the French 
"cached" their tools, and when it was found that 
they had discovered nothing of value they never 
came back. 

Many people have tried since, to find just where 
the first mine was opened, but although it is easy 

300 



The Treasures of the Earth 301 

enough to see the green earth and the blue earth 
which the Indians used for paint, on the bank 
of the river of the same name, no one has ever 
found the tools which were left by the first miners, 
nor the exact spot from which they took away 
four thousand pounds of what they thought was 
copper. 

Isle Royale, which is a beautiful place off the 
north shore of Lake Superior and only thirty miles 
from the Minnesota shore, doesn't really belong to 
our State, but to Michigan, which is eighty-seven 
miles away, though we were once the same terri- 
tory. Though our Indians never lived there, they 
went there often, for we are quite sure that the 
copper which they used was mined there, as over 
a thousand pits and shafts were opened many years 
before the White Man did any mining there. They 
used to break the rocks with great hammers, which 
had round stones for heads, and the copper freed 
was almost pure instead of being mixed with other 
things as most copper is. 

Many years later several mines were opened on 
this island and today we find along its one hundred 
and fifty miles of shore the ruins of towns where 
hundreds of people worked these copper mines. 
Most of the bricks and all of the wood from the 
houses and chimneys have been carried away by 
campers, and today only the Finnish fishermen 



302 Our Minnesota 

live there six months in the year and tourists for a 
few weeks in the s\immer ; most of them not knowing 
at all that the quiet shores were once inhabited by- 
many people who hoped to make vast fortunes. So 
nothing is left today of our earliest mining but cop- 
per found among the Indian relics. 

These mines were all given up because it cost too 
much to take the ore which was of low grade to a 
place where it could be smelted. The only thing 
that was ever done with it was to send a huge piece 
of copper to the Centennial Exposition in 1876^ 
as an advertisement of the mines. 

There was a gold excitement in Minnesota just 
after the Civil War, for H. H. Eames found gold in 
some of the rock in the northern part of the State. 
A road seventy-five miles long was built from Du- 
luth to Vermilion Lake, and the town of Winston 
was started, but there wasn't enough gold to 
amount to anything and ten years later only one 
man was left in the place. Gold was found in small 
quantities north of the Lake of the Woods too, 
but there wasn't enough to pay to get it out, and 
the real gold mines of Minnesota consist of her 
forests, her wheat, and the other things which she 
raises and which bring back a stream of gold 
instead of sending it out. 

Nicollet was sure that there were rich minerals 
to be found here, but iron was not discovered in our 



The Treasures of the Earth 303 

State until 1866 when it was located by Eames, the 
State geologist. The first mines were located in 
1 8 80 near Tower in the Vermilion Range (the French 
name for the red jasper found here), and that mining 
was done at this time was largely due to the efforts 
of George Stone of Duluth, who for many years had 
insisted that there was wealth in the north, and 
had tried to get people interested in mining there. 
He persuaded Charlemagne Tower, a rich Phila- 
delphian, to invest money in his scheme and this 
was the beginning of our great mining business. 

Soon the Duluth and Iron Range Railroad con- 
necting the mines with Two Harbors was built, 
and in 1884 and 1886 the first ore was sent out from 
Tower and Ely, then rough little villages on what 
seemed the edge of nowhere. 

The great iron deposits in the Mesabi Range, 
which had been suspected for a long time, were 
opened up in 1892 by the Merritt Brothers of Du- 
luth, who have done much to develop our northern 
counties. 

Long before this, the Indians of the north had 
insisted that there was iron in the northern 
ranges. An Indian guide located a very rich vein 
by taking some campers to the spot and proving 
to his own satisfaction the deposit, by showing the 
attraction of the earth for a willow twig in the 
light of a full moon; and people traveling along 



304 Our Minnesota 

the north shore of Lake Superior noticed that the 
magnetism is great enough to unbalance their 
watches. 

The history of mining in our State reads like a 
fairy story, for although it was begun only thirty 
years ago, last year Minnesota mined two-thirds 
of all the iron in the United States. Nowhere in 
the world have so many towns sprung up suddenly, 
as along the railroads which in the last ten years 
have come into this district. Twenty years ago 
the country was a wilderness, peopled by only a few 
Indians, trappers and lumbermen. Today there 
are eleven cities and dozens of little towns giving 
work to hundreds of thousands of people. Virginia, 
which was founded scarcely twenty years ago, is 
now the fifth city in size in the State. Instead of 
walking or going in on horseback to the mines, as 
the prospectors had to do, you may go over the 
road in any one of six palace trains a day, riding 
in luxurious parlor or sleeping cars. 

The iron in the Mesabi range is only fifty feet 
or so from the surface, and in many places is of 
such high grade that it is almost all pure iron. The 
surface is "stripped,*' then the ore is loaded with 
great steam shovels which scoop it from an open 
pit and drop it into the cars which run right to 
the mines. In some places power is obtained by 
water and by electricity, very different mining from 



The Treasures of the Earth 305 

the old way where the miners have to live under- 
ground and never see the light of day excepting 
for a few minutes in the morning and at evening. 

The Mesabi mines which are the greatest in the 
world form the ridge, which you remember, the 
Indians used to call the Giant Range, as though to 
foretell its future greatness. The State owns fifty 
of these mines which were discovered on school 
lands and so cannot be sold, but are leased instead, 
and the schools get twenty-five cents a ton for all 
the ore mined. 

The last mines opened in Minnesota are in the 
Cuyuna Range which runs through Aitkin and Crow 
Wing counties. There is no iron on the surface, but 
a party of explorers noticed that their compasses 
acted strangely and sure enough, far down under 
the rocks, they found the iron which attracted the 
needle. These mines and those in the Vermilion 
Range are worked by blasting out pits into which 
shafts are sunk far below the ground, and the iron 
instead of being pure is mixed with rock. 

From the mines, the ore is run down to Two 
Harbors or Duluth on Lake Superior and carried 
directly to the greatest ore docks in the world, 
where it is dumped into pockets. From these 
pockets great chutes send it into the holds of the 
huge steel vessels, big enough for a small town. 
There are four hundred of these greatest freight 

30 



3o6 Our Minnesota 

boats in the world and each one carries thousands 
of tons of ore to Cleveland, Toledo, and other lake 
cities to be smelted. It is of course a waste not to 
smelt and manufacture the iron at home and now 
(191 6), an immense steel plant is running in Duluth. 
It has cost millions of dollars to build and will 
give work to thousands of people. 

The life of a miner in these ** range towns'* 
is very different from the usual frontier life, for 
the labor is made easier by much machinery. 
Many of the laborers own their own homes and they 
have hospitals, theaters, good food and, above all, 
very fine schools ; some of the best school buildings 
in the State are in the mining district. 

STONES 

Besides the wonderful mines there are many 
kinds of useful and beautiful stones in our Minne- 
sota, as though Nature had said to herself: "When 
the forests are gone my children will need something 
to take the place of wood for their homes and busi- 
ness, so I will tuck away these treasures for them 
to find. '* And so she did, near enough to the 
surface too, so they may be easily seen and taken 
out. 

All along the Minnesota River northeast to the 
Lake of the Woods, and about Duluth are found 



The Treasures of the Earth 307 

series of granite. The quarries at St. Cloud have 
given us the gray stone of the State House founda- 
tion, and many other buildings. At Sherburne and 
Sauk Rapids we find a mixture of gray, red, and 
white called Scotch granite; at Big Stone Lake, 
the reddish gray of which the great Court House in 
Minneapolis is built ; while from the Mesabi Range 
came stone for the massive Auditorium Hotel in 
Chicago. When we look at these buildings we 
realize what people mean when they say as "en- 
during as granite. " 

There is much sandstone in the State too, and it 
gives wonderful effects in its different colors. The 
* ' white stone ' ' of Kasson is well known. That found 
at Red Wing and Faribault is cream color, at 
Kettle River, buff. There are many buildings of 
sandstone all over the State. The first hotel in 
Mendota was built of it, as are the piers of the 
Fort Snelling bridge. 

Limestone, which underlies a great part of the 
State, is easy to quarry and was much used in early 
days; for example, old buildings of Carleton College 
at Northfield, and the schools at Faribault. It 
seems to fit the landscape about it, in its dull grays 
and yellows, and when it crumbles a little, looks as 
though it had grown where it is, instead of being 
put up by the hand of man. 

The Kasota stone is dolomite, a sort of limestone 



3o8 Our Minnesota 

of yellowish-pink, which when polished looks almost 
like onyx. 

Most wonderful of all these stones is the "red 
jasper" as it is called; when in the rough, a 
dull pink or red with little streaks or waves in it, 
and when polished as beautiful as any marble. 
This stone is mined at Luverne, New Ulm, and 
near the city of Pipestone. 

Much has been written of our '' Pipestone,** for 
it is found nowhere else in the world, and all of the 
early travelers were much impressed by it, George 
Catlin, the artist, coming to Minnesota on purpose 
to see it. His description of his visit in the early 
days is very interesting: "For many miles we had 
the Coteau des Prairies in view in the distance be- 
fore us, which looked like a blue cloud settling down 
in the horizon . . . and from the base of this 
mound to its top there was not a tree or bush to be 
seen in any direction and the ground everywhere 
was covered with a green turf of grass about five 
or six inches high ... on the very top of this 
mound or ridge we found the far-famed quarries 
or fountain of the Red Pipe, which is truly an 
anomaly in nature. 

" The principal and most striking feature of this 
place is the perpendicular wall of cross-grained, 
compact quartz of twenty-five and thirty feet in 
elevation, running nearly north and south, with its 



The Treasures of the Earth 309 

face to the west, showing a front of nearly two miles 
in length, when it disappears at both ends by run- 
ning under the prairie. At the base of this wall 
there is a level prairie, in any and all parts of which 
the Indians procure sufficient redstone for their 
pipes, by digging through the soil and several 
layers of redstone to the depth of four or five feet. 
From the very numerous marks of ancient and 
modem diggings, it would appear that this place 
has been for many centuries resorted to for the 
redstone, and from the great number of graves and 
remains in its vicinity, it would seem that the 
Indian tribes have long held this place in high 
superstitious estimation, and also that it has been 
the resort of different tribes who have made their 
regular pilgrimages here to renew their pipes." 

The stone you remember was "wakan," or 
sacred to the Indians who believed that it was the 
gift of the Thunder Bird. Calumets made from 
this quarry have been found as far south as Georgia, 
and the New York Museum has a very old pipe 
which was found among the Senecas who probably 
traded it with the Sioux. 

The Indians called it "eyenskah" but when Mr. 
Catlin took a piece east with him to have it exam- 
ined, the name "catlinite" was given it, though 
we usually speak of it as pipestone. When the 
great Washington monument was built, Minnesota 



310 Our Minnesota 

sent a slab of this stone to represent our State 
in the shaft. 

The Coteau des Prairies in Pipestone County 
is a truly wonderful place and has been made 
famous by Longfellow. 

"On the Mountains of the Prairie, 
On the great Red Pipestone Quarry, 
Gitche Manito, the Mighty, 
He the Master of Life, descending. 
On the red crags of the quarry 
Stood erect, and called the nations, 
Called the tribes of men together. 
From the red stone of the quarry 
With his hands he broke a fragment 
Moulded it into a pipe head , 
Shaped and fashioned it with figures. " 

Clay, too, is found in many parts of our State. 
One of the greatest pottery factories in the United 
States is at Red Wing, and at Mankato, cement, 
tiles, and fire brick are made. There are slate 
beds on the St. Louis River, and mineral paint 
near Redwood Falls. 

Along the shores of Lake Superior besides the 
great corundum mines near Grand Marais there 
are many wonderful stones which are used for 
ornaments. Among these are the thomsonites, 



The Treasures of the Earth 311 

queer mottled pink and green, and many kinds of 
agate, the most beautiful of all perhaps a trans- 
parent blue which takes a wonderful polish and 
looks like sapphire, and amethyst quartz shading 
from purple to violet. 

There are in the rotunda of the new State House 
eight great pillars twenty-four feet high, polished, 
round, wonderful; four from Ortonville, cloudy, 
mysterious-looking, almost like reddish smoke 
turned to stone; four from Rockville, near St. 
Cloud, gray, stately, impressive; each cut from a 
single stone, truly symbols of the treasures which 
lie beneath the surface of Minnesota. 



CHAPTER XVIII 

Some Legacies 

landmarks 

As WQ look up and down our State today we 
notice here and there things which remind us 
of the early settlers and pioneers, who made it 
easier for us to have the comforts and privileges 
which are ours now, because they went through the 
hardships of frontier life. 

Away up on our northern boundary, where the 
old trading post used to be, there is a part of the 
old landing, and the French names, Fond du Lac, 
Lac qui Parle and Traverse des Sioux remind us of 
the fur trading of early days. At the last place, 
besides the house where Flandrau lived at the time 
of the Sioux massacre, is a great boulder, which the 
St. Peter Chapter of Daughters of the American 
Revolution have dedicated and inscribed, in 
memory of the Treaty of 1851. 

Wherever you find, here and there, along the 
banks of the rivers in Minnesota, wide open spaces 

312 




Henry Hastings Sibley 

(From the E. A. Bromley Collection) 




Sibley House. Built in 1835 

(By courtesy of F. Bowen) 



Some Legacies 313 

reaching up to the ridges, you may be sure that they 
once were slides for logs, although you may not see 
a sign of a pine tree or anything else reminding you 
of early lumber camps; while at Marine, the big 
empty stores in the midst of the charming quiet 
little town, and on the heights the great houses of 
Judd and Orange Walker, speak of the lumber 
interests which once centered there. 

On Lake St. Croix just above Stillwater, the forest 
of piles, standing high out of the water, is all that is 
left of the great boom, and the desolate places on 
the hills of Stillwater are silent speakers of the 
vanished homes of the old lumber kings. 

In Blue Earth County, stand several of the 
windmills, left in the march of progress from the 
time when wheat was ground by the wind. 

The names of the lakes about Minneapolis, were 
many of them given by the people who lived first 
at Fort Snelling. They took little pleasure trips 
in their birch-bark canoes, exploring this wonderful 
unknown land and naming the new discoveries they 
made, calling Lake Harriet after Mrs. Leavenworth, 
the wife of the first commander. At that time 
Calhoun was Secretary of War, and also the 
superior officer of all the army, so his name was 
naturally given to one of the lakes, on the shore of 
which is the tablet marking the spot where the 
Pond brothers had their first mission for the 



314 Our Minnesota 

Indians. Minnetonka, which means "big water," 
was named by Governor Ramsey but of course 
much later than the others. 

What must have been the feelings of the pleasure 
parties, when they left their canoes and following up 
a little creek which flows into the river about two 
miles above the Fort saw for the first time that 
wonderful waterfall, which is now famed all over 
the country! 

Minnehaha was first called Little Falls, or 
Brown's Falls, some people think for our friend 
Joseph Brown, who with young Snelling may have 
gone there on one of his exploring trips. But he 
was only a drummer boy fourteen years old, and 
at this time, the head of the army was Jacob Brown, 
who seems much more likely to be the one for 
whom the falls were named. We do not know what 
white man first saw their beauty, nor just when the 
name by which we know the falls was given, for the 
Indians who knew the place well called all their falls 
*'haha "which means laughing, and often "minne- 
haha" or laughing water. At one time this name 
was given to St. Anthony Falls and perhaps that 
was why these falls were called "little haha. '* 
In 1855 when Senator Charles Sumner visited our 
State, he was taken by Governor Ramsey on a trip 
to see the falls, and was so impressed that he told 
Longfellow about their beauty and wonderful 



Some Legacies 315 

setting. Longfellow wrote his Hiawatha after this 
description, although he never saw the falls himself. 
This poem made Minnesota, which was then not 
well known, famous throughout the world and is 
remarkable for the picture it gives of the Indian, 
as well as for the story which we all love. 

Four years before this, in 1851, Harper Brothers 
sent Mr.Hesler, who had a picture gallery in Galena, 
Illinois, up north to take a picture of the Missis- 
sippi River. There were no photographs at that 
time, but they took instead sun pictures, among 
them one of Little Falls, which was given to a 
relative of Longfellow who perhaps showed it to 
him. Anyway the poem came out the very year 
that Sumner told Longfellow the story and the 
falls have been known since by the name, Minne- 
haha, 

*' the moonlight, starlight, firelight, 
Brought the sunlight of his people, Minnehaha, 
laughing water." 

Today the banks on both sides of the little stream 
which flows from Harriet and Calhoun are broad 
walks. The stream is bridged, so we may get all 
views of the lovely fall, the street cars whiz by every 
few minutes, and thousands of visitors every day 
throng the park on both sides of the stream. The 
ravine is lined with the cages of many animals 



3i6 Our Minnesota 

that once roamed wild over these very spots, and 
in the railed-in spaces of many wild acres the deer 
wander and try to hide from the curious; while the 
buffaloes, once lords of the vast prairie, paw the 
earth and gaze sullenly through the bars; but 
the glen is still beautiful, the birds still sing and the 
water still laughs on its way, reminding us of early 
days and giving pleasure to thousands of people. 

Below Pike Island, underneath the great group 
of buildings belonging to the City and County 
Hospital in St. Paul, on the river's edge, is 
Fountain Cave near which was the home of the 
first dweller in the capital city, who was forced 
off the reservation grounds and sold his second 
claim for ten dollars. Still farther down the 
river and under Dayton's Bluff is the famous 
Carver's Cave, which was lost for years and 
only in 191 5 discovered again, after a search of 
months. No one may go inside now, for it is 
dangerous on account of a lake which reaches back 
to an unknown distance, the depths of which are 
black darkness and where the fish are all blind. 

Of the three forts established in Minnesota, only 
one is still in use by the government. At Fort 
Ripley the last old block house was burned in 1882 
and at Fort Ridgely there is but one building stand- 
ing of those which protected the refugees in the 
great massacre. 



Some Legacies 317 

At Fort Snelling the outline of the fort made by 
Nature is plain, but of the old stronghold only two 
buildings are left, and the picturesque wall has all 
been taken down. The old guard house was saved 
from destruction a few years ago, though unfor- 
tunately it has been somewhat changed by those in 
command, who didn't realize how dear it is to the 
people of Minnesota. The round building is still 
loop-holed and the date 1820, cut in a slab of faced 
stone, reminds us of the earliest building in this 
part of the country. On the edge of the bluff 
toward the Minnesota River still stands the lime- 
stone bastion, whose timbers were whip-sawed by 
the soldiers who were carpenters and stone masons 
as well as defenders, for they did all the building 
of the Fort as well as chopping the trees and quarry- 
ing the stone from which it was built. Opposite 
the Fort on the Mississippi side is the road which 
led down to the ferry and the landing, used until 
the first bridge was built across the river, while 
on the Minnesota River the ferry still runs as in the 
old days. 

At the sleepy little town of Mendota is the best 
preserved relic of old trading days as well as of the 
early settlers in this part of the world — the old 
Sibley mansion. It was built in 1835 of the lime- 
stone which crops out all about it, the first stone 
house, you remember, in the territory. It was 



3i8 Our Minnesota 

used by Mr. Sibley of the American Fur Company 
and was known as the Mendota Factory. The 
Indians built it and the plaster was made from 
clay and mud from the near-by river bank. They 
had no lath so made rope of twisted grass and rushes 
to hold the plaster together, and the plaster was 
mixed with twigs and small sticks. The wood in 
the house was all hewn by hand and instead of nails 
was put together with wooden pegs; the stone walls 
are two feet thick as though it were a fort. The 
top story has a stairway outside and in winter, as 
many as thirty Indians sometimes crawled up and 
slept there, for they and General Sibley were 
always great friends and he was loved and trusted 
by all the Indians as few other traders were. This 
house saw more history made inside its walls than 
any other in Minnesota. Most of the business of 
forming the territory was done here before our first 
governor came. General Sibley lived in this house 
until 1862, when it was sold to the parish of Men- 
dota and used as a mission school. Later it was 
deserted for many years and tramps used it for a 
lodging place, chopping up the floors and a great 
deal of the woodwork for firewood. 

The Daughters of the American Revolution of 
Minnesota asked Archbishop Ireland to give the 
Sibley House to them so they might repair it and 
preserve it as a relic of early days, and he and the 



Some Legacies 319 

parish of Mendota generously did so. It has been 
restored to almost its early dignit}^ a great deal of 
the old furniture has been brought back to the house, 
and the whole is a museum of Minnesota relics. 

The old military road from Fort Snelling to Point 
Douglas is still used and is called by its early name 
for part of its distance. It goes from the ferry 
landing on the Mississippi River along Seventh 
Street, which used to be Fort Road in St. Paul, 
past Kaposia, and Battle Coulee, the scene of a 
great battle between the Sioux and the Chippewas, 
through part of Newport township, and Cottage 
Grove to Point Douglas. 

In Minnehaha Park stands the house of John 
Stevens, the first one built in Minneapolis and 
moved here from the place where it stood on the 
river, near the suspension bridge. It was hauled 
from its old site by the school children of Minne- 
apolis, with great ceremony, and put up in its 
present place, that the children of the future 
might see the seed from which the city grew. 
This little house saw much of the early law-making 
planned and it was visited by many famous people. 
Here the first singing school was held and the first 
meeting of the Agricultural Society. 

There is nothing that we may see of the tiny 
chapel of St. Paul, unfortunately; the oldest build- 
ing in the Capital City is the little brick one 



320 Our Minnesota 

on Rice Park now used as a garage. Its steeple is 
gone and nothing is left to tell us that it was once 
the First Methodist Church excepting that the 
windows are the same as when it was built for a place 
of worship. It was built in 1849 of the first brick 
made in St. Paul at a yard on Summit Avenue. 

There are many reminders of the Sioux mas- 
sacre throughout the State. At Acton, in Meeker 
County, a monument was put up by the citizens in 
memory of those who were so cruelly murdered, and 
the State erected one near Birch Coulee. On the 
twenty-eighth anniversary of the siege of New Ulm, 
the bronze shaft in memory of its defenders was 
dedicated. On one side of this is a relief of Colonel 
Flandrau, the defender of New Ulm, and it is one of 
the things to remember that he, then Judge Flan- 
drau, and Governor Ramsey were both present on 
that day. In the park at Lake Shetek in Murray 
County is a little log house which is a relic of the 
massacre, and on the site of Camp Release on the 
thirty-second anniversary of the Sioux surrender, 
the State of Minnesota put up a monument. 

Minnesota has dedicated monuments to the 
memory of our heroes in the Civil War on the 
battle-fields of Shiloh, Vicksburg, Gettysburg, 
Chickamauga and Mission Ridge. In our own 
State House in the niches prepared for them, 
under the dome, are the great bronze statues 



Some Legacies 321 

of General Sanborn, General Shields, Colonel 
Colvill, and Colonel Wilkin ; while in the glass cases 
below rest the tattered battle-flags. 

These are all reminders of that great struggle, 
but the best one is the Union flag, which ought to 
make us resolve every time we see it "that these 
dead shall not have died in vain." 

GREAT MEN 

Many of those called "forty-niners," who came 
here in that year, were state builders as well as 
state protectors, and we have seen some of them 
in the work in which they became prominent. 

The Reverend E. D. Neill was among these. 
He was one of the first ministers in the territory; 
chaplain of the first Minnesota regiment; first 
Chancellor of the State University; first historian 
of the State; and secretary to President Lincoln. 
He was a great scholar and a friend to everything 
good which came up in his lifetime, which was 
long. 

Joseph Wheelock, who came here a boy of nine- 
teen, was later editor of the Pioneer Press in St. 
Paul and for forty years made, and kept it, a news- 
paper which was widely known and of great influ- 
ence throughout the United States. 

We should remember Charlotte Ouisconsin, the 
ax 



322 Our Minnesota 

daughter of Lieutenant Clark, who was born at 
Prairie du Chien where the troops camped on their 
way to Fort Snelling, the first white child in this 
region. She lived at the Fort several years. Later 
she was married to Horatio Van Cleve, who became 
the colonel of the famous Second Minnesota in the 
Civil War, and lived in Minneapolis until she was 
eighty-eight years old, a woman of wide influence 
and great charity. 

In 1853, came Charles Eugene Flandrau, — ^Indian 
agent and lawyer, the hero of the Sioux Massacre, 
and judge of the State Supreme Court; whom the 
Indians called " ahtay, " meaning father, and whom 
the pioneers called the "plumed knight of early 
days. " 

Bishop Whipple, the apostle to the Indians, came 
to the State in 1859 when there were more than 
seventeen thousand Red Men here, most of them 
heathen. He taught them, preached to them, 
pleaded their cause in this country and in Europe, 
and made them and their needs well known all over 
the world. The Indians never had a better nor 
truer friend and they called him " Straight Tongue,'* 
because they knew that they could always depend 
on him. He started church schools in Faribault, 
where he lived for many years, and until he was an 
aged man carried on his church and mission work, 
a well-known figure all over the State. 



Some Legacies 323 

Cushman K. Davis, whose work was broader than 
even the State of Minnesota, was our youngest 
governor, elected in 1873 when he was thirty-five 
years old. He later became a leader in the United 
States Senate and the head of the Foreign Relations 
Committee, the most important one in the Senate, 
especially in time of war; helped to make the treaty 
which ended the war with Spain in 1898 and had 
much to do with our getting the Hawaiian Islands. 
Davis was a great Shakespeare scholar and would 
have been a famous literary man if he had not been 
a statesman. 

Bom in Kilkenny, Ireland, in 1838, John Ireland 
came to Minnesota at the age of fourteen years and 
later studied for the priesthood in France. He was 
chaplain of the Fifth Minnesota and early became 
well known in both church and state. He has 
done more than anyone else for the temperance 
cause in Minnesota, and perhaps as much as anyone 
in years gone by, to urge immigrants to come here. 
He was made Archbishop of St. Paul in 1888, and 
is the patriarch priest of the Northwest. 

Bom in the same year as Archbishop Ireland, 
in the wilds of Canada, James J. Hill came to St. 
Paul in 1856. At eighteen he was shipping clerk 
for J. W. Bass & Company. At thirty-three he 
went into partnership with Kittson as a trader. At 
the age of forty he was a railroad president. The 



324 Our Minnesota 

builder of the Great Northern Railway, his work 
extends far beyond the State of Minnesota for he 
" tapped" the wheat district and the farming lands 
over all the Northwest. He did more than any 
one man in the State for agriculture and saw 
Minnesota first in wheat and many other things, 
remembering the days when cranberries were the 
only crop we sold. He died in 191 6. 

John A. Johnson, the second Democrat that the 
State elected after Governor Sibley, and the first 
governor who was a native of Minnesota, was born 
in St. Peter in 1861. He died in office in 1909, 
and the State honored him and remembers him, as 
the statue at the entrance of the State House 
proves. It would be well if every Minnesota boy 
and girl took to heart his advice when he became 
governor : 

"Let us strive to attain the highest ideals, and 
reward the people who have reposed special con- 
fidence in us, by honest effort which will make us 
worthy of the honors conferred upon us. " 

The list of our score of governors is a list of 
honor, yet none has surpassed the first one who 
came to Minnesota, Alexander Ramsey. Coming 
in 1849, when he was only thirty-four years old, he 
has been so much a part of the State that it is 
impossible to think of one without the other, for the 
State and the man grew together. He always 



Some Legacies 325 

insisted that one of the first things which the 
legislature should look after was the education of 
the future and did much more than anyone else, 
to see that our immense school lands were not 
used for anything but the good of the schools. He 
carried through the Indian treaties and w&.s our 
great War Governor. He acted with the quickness 
that was absolutely necessary at the time of the 
awful massacre, choosing to lead the troops, because 
he was the best man for the work, the man who 
was always against him in politics. 

He was our Senator twice and afterward Secretary 
of War for President Hayes. He lived to see the 
new century well started on its way and the future 
of the State assured, for we did not lose him until 
1903. His name was given to the county where 
the capital is, as well as to one of our most beautiful 
parks. It is impossible to think of any one thing 
or any ten things which are most important that he 
did not have something to do with, for he had some- 
thing to do with everything that was important. 

THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

At the very first meeting of the Territorial Legis- 
lature in the old Central House a body was formed 
which was very important to us. Most of the men 
in Minnesota at that time were young, and were 
looking forward to a long life. They had not 



326 Our Minnesota 

proved as yet that this was a good place for a home, 
but they showed that they had come here to stay 
and that they expected a great State in the future. 

They decided to tax themselves out of their slen- 
der means, to establish the Minnesota Historical 
Society, to collect and keep everything, which in 
the future might help us to know the history of 
our State. 

From that day until now, the Society has col- 
lected papers, reports, pictures, newspapers, relics, 
everything and anything, really useful in the history 
of Minnesota. The papers, which have been writ- 
ten by the members, and the diaries, letters, and 
newspapers of early days make the only beginnings 
for the history which we have today. Reverend E. 
D. Neill gave the first address in 1850, and in 1852 
the society helped to publish the Dakota Dictionary. 

The next year plans were made for a building 
and the cornerstone was laid across the street from 
the State House in the Capital City. There was a 
grand procession and speech making but that is as 
far as the building ever went until now (19 16) when 
the handsome and fitting home near the new State 
House is at last nearing completion. Up to this 
time the Historical Society has always had a place 
in the State House, where anyone, who is inter- 
ested, may use the library or see the museum. 

Our Historical Society is noted throughout the 



Some Legacies 327 

United States for Its collection of newspapers, own- 
ing a copy of almost every one that has ever been 
published in Minnesota. It has a picture gallery, 
with portraits of our State builders, and views of 
noted places at various times in our history. The 
museum is most interesting, and anyone who has 
not seen it should visit it whenever it is possible. 
Among the things that would interest you are : An 
ancient Ojibway canoe, a wonderful collection of 
arrowheads and other tools and weapons used by 
the Indians, as well as the contents of the Indian 
mounds, which have been opened. 

From the mounds there are a great many skulls 
and bones of Indians: stone hammers and arrow- 
heads and many curious articles made of pipestone. 
Some of the pipes are of unusual shapes and carved 
and scratched with strange designs. 

One of the rarest Indian relics is a hunting bag 
made by the wife of Alexander Faribault. It is 
about fifteen inches long and twelve inches wide, 
most beautifully embroidered with beads and por- 
cupine quills, and trimmed with red down, which 
the Indians considered sacred. This down, which 
was dyed with native berries, is as bright as though 
it were new. 

High on a shelf is a wooden box divided into 
twenty pigeonholes, the first postoffice of the settle- 
ment of St. Paul. 



328 Our Minnesota 

-The first printing press which was ever brought to 
the Territory is in the room where the newspapers 
are kept on file, and here too is the first paper that 
was ever printed in Minnesota. 

There are two historic bells here, one which first 
hung on a steamboat on the Mississippi River was 
bought in 1848 for the school in Stillwater, the first 
steeple bell in the Territory. The other is a hand 
bell which was used in the Jackson house in 1842. 
The Jackson house at Pig's Eye was made up of two 
log buildings, each with a room below and a room 
above and connected by a balcony. The dining- 
room was downstairs in one house and over it the 
family lived. In the other house the kitchen was 
below and the boarders slept above. When Mrs. 
Jackson rang this hand bell the town came to 
dinner. 

The men who made the State in early days and 
who made it great, have written much of the history 
in which they had so large a part, and have always 
been interested in carrying forward the work of the 
Historical Society which means more and more as 
time goes on. 

The old settlers and pioneers are fast passing 
away, and soon no one will be left who remembers 
the events of early Minnesota, so we should be 
thankful that we have so much that is valuable in 
this library and museum. 



Some Legacies 329 

This is the University song, and it is so fine that 
we all ought to learn it and sing it, on what the 
University calls "The State Wide Campus," 
which reaches from the North to the South, from 
the East to the West, of Minnesota, and belongs to 
all of us. 



mAIL! UINin&SOTA. 



If aale bsr T. B. Rickardi 

^ I 




' S-=-*-^r — h r r 



It 

Hail to thee our col - lege 



Min • ne - so - ta hail to thee I 



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fe;^ 




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dear I 



Thy light shall e - ver be 

-I- 



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bea • con bright and 



clear. 



I I I 
Thy sons and daugh-ters 



at- 



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I.I . _ -^- -^ -^~ -t"^ 4^ •+— I I "5- 



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-guar3'thy fame and adore thy name; Thou shall be their Norihera Star. 



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330 



Some Legacies 331 



HAIL! MINNSSOTA. 

1. 

Minnesota, hail to thee. 

Hail to thee our college dear; 
Thy light shall ever be 

A beacon bright and clear; 
Thy sons and daughters true 

Will proclaim thee near and far; 
They will guard thy fame 

And adore thy name; 
Thou Shalt be their Northern Star. 

— Truman Rickard, U. M. *04. 



2. 



Like the stream that bends to sea 

Like the pine that seeks the blue; 
Minnesota, still for thee 

Thy sons are strong and true. 
From their woods and waters fair; 

From their prairies waving far. 
At thy call they throng 

With their shout and song 
Hailing thee their Northern Star. 

— Arthur Upson, U. M. *05- 



CHAPTER XIX 
Minnesota, the Star of the North 

TODAY 

The last few years of our history have been a 
story of steady progress and as we look back to the 
beginnings in Minnesota we see great changes 
which the years have brought. The population has 
increased from a handful of French, whom the In- 
dians called Wa-she-cha or "White Man" to a hun- 
dred and fifty thousand in 1857, to a little more than 
a million and a half in 1900, until in 1 910 it was two 
million seventy-five thousand seven hundred and 
eight, made up of many nationalities. As we 
said, the first people who came here were French, 
many of whom married Indians, and their descend- 
ants we find here and there throughout the State. 
They are few in number but the French influence is 
still shown in the names of places and in our State 
motto. Many early settlers and pioneers came 
from Wisconsin, Maine, other New England States, 
Canada, and many were children of Ohio pioneers. 

332 




state Capitol, St. Paul, Minnesota's State House 

(By courtesy of the Secretary of State of Minnesota) 



The Star of the North 333 

It is interesting to us to see what elements went 
into the Minnesotan. Before i85o~the Scotch and 
the Swiss made up a fairly good part of the popula- 
tion. By the census of 1850 there were from two 
to eighty-six of French, Swiss, Dutch, Swedes, Rus- 
sians, Welsh, Scotch, Norwegians, Canadians, and 
English. There was one each of Austrian, Belgian, 
Dane, Italian, Spanish, and Prussian. There were 
two hundred and seventy-one Irish and one hundred 
and forty-one Germans. The Indians called the 
Germans ea-scha-che, which means "bad talkers," 
named of course because they were used to the 
smooth-tongued French. 

Today there are more people in Minnesota from 
the Scandinavian peninsula than from any other 
place, for thirty-six per cent, of all Minnesotans 
are from the Scandinavian countries, the people 
from Germany coming next with twenty-six per 
cent. In 1850, Fredrika Bremer, the great Swedish 
writer, visited Minneapolis, the forerunner of the 
many to come later and now there are more Scan- 
dinavians in that city than in any other in America, 
in fact excepting in Stockholm, more than in any 
city in the world. 

Colonel Hans Mattson, a Swede, who visited 
Europe, especially Germany, Sweden, and Norway 
as agent for the railroad companies, induced many 
immigrants to come here. In 1869, Congress was 



334 Our Minnesota 

asked to send a minister to represent us in Sweden, 
and General Andrews of St. Paul was our first 
representative there. Many people who have done 
much for the State came from the Scandinavian 
countries. John Lind, who was governor and re- 
presentative of the President in Mexico during the 
late trouble, as well as President of the State Board 
of Regents, was born in Sweden. Knute Nelson 
who has been one of our Senators for twenty-one 
years was also born in Sweden, and Governor 
John A. Johnson, although born in Minnesota, 
was of Swedish parentage. 

The Scandinavians when they come to this 
country always come for homes and to settle 
down and be citizens, and no better people for 
citizenship could come, because they so easily and 
quickly are Americans. 

Quite lately a number of Finns and Russians 
have come to Minnesota, and since the mines have 
been opened in the Vermilion and Mesabi districts 
many people from southern Europe have come to 
our State, among them Poles, Hungarians, Monte- 
negrins, Greeks, and Italians. In some of the 
range towns the people speak seventeen different 
languages. 

The schools and the common interests of home, 
will soon make us all realize that we are now one 
people. In a few years we shall all speak English, 



The Star of the North 335 

and instead of anything European we shall be 
Minnesotans and Americans. 

We have seen Minnesota grow from four counties, 
in 1849, the oldest and smallest Ramsey, until today 
we have eighty-six, of which St. Louis County in 
the north, is the largest. The newest ones are 
Clear Water, which was cut off from Beltrami; 
Koochiching, made from a part of Itasca; and Pen- 
nington, which used to be part of Red Lake. 

The southern counties are the best populated in 
the State, which is natural as they are the oldest. 
Those along the Red River are growing, but in the 
north, where the iron mines are, the people are 
flocking so fast that it almost seems as though the 
towns grow up in a single night. 

It is not quite a century since the first permanent 
settlement took the place of the lodges of the 
Indians, which were moved with the seasons, and 
today the whole State is dotted with cities and 
towns which change only to become larger. There 
are now in Minnesota nineteen cities which have 
more than five thousand people each. Minneapolis 
the largest, has three hundred and one thousand 
four hundred and eight, St. Paul two hundred 
and fourteen thousand seven hundred and forty- 
four, and Duluth seventy-eight thousand four 
hundred and forty-six. The fifth city in size is 
Virginia, in St. Louis County, with more than ten 



33^ Our Minnesota 

thousand people, where only thirty years ago the 
country was a wilderness. 

In early days, the only money which came here 
was paid to the Indians by the United States, while 
now there are in the State more than three hundred 
and thirty national banks. 

You remember that the mail used to be carried 
by Indian runners, who brought it to a few outlying 
districts once in a while. Now mail comes to all 
our settlements at least once a day, and there are 
in Minnesota one thousand, three hundred and 
twenty-three post offices. 

There were two newspapers started in the terri- 
tory in 1849. Today there are six hundred and 
thirty-four in the State. 

[_We have watched this region grow from a wild 
country peopled only with savages, who had no 
ideas of developing the gifts which generous nature 
has given us so bountifully, to a centre of trade. 
First, the fur trade which gave way to lumbering, 
with the mills naturally following in its wake. 
Today the greatest flour mills in the world are 
grinding away the grain which covers what was a 
short time ago thousands of acres of waste land. 

In 1850, the only crop sent out of the State was a 
few hundred barrels of cranberries, while in 191 5 
we raised more than one hundred and thirty-three 
millions of bushels of oats, and seventy-three 



The Star of the North 337 

million, nine hundred thousand bushels of wheat, 
besides our other crops. 

The great iron mines, which were unknown 
thirty years ago, now give the State in taxes one- 
fifth of all it needs for its expenses, and send iron 
all over the world. The great smelting plant in 
Duluth now supplies us with steel and thousands 
of people with work, while paper mills and oil mills 
are immense industries. 

We have seen the people begin to raise stock and 
cattle "on a thousand hills," and now the stock 
raising has made us a great manufacturing State, for 
packing plants naturally come where the animals 
are. Of course trade in leather and hides would cen- 
ter in Minnesota, and the manufacturing of boots 
and shoes, which is one of our great industries. 

There are over one hundred thousand kinds of 
things made in Minnesota, and among them all we 
should remember to put bread and butter first, 
for we produce each year enough to give every 
person in the United States almost a bushel of 
wheat and a pound of butter, to say nothing of a 
piece of cheese. 

We have seen the canoe and dog sledge pass 
away and a network of railroads cover the State, 
and now the problem of good roads is before us. 
With the coming of the automobile and rural free 
delivery we should have roads which will make it 



338 Our Minnesota 

easy for everyone to get over the ground more 
quickly and easily. Many people in the State are 
interested in this problem and before long we hope 
that Minnesota will be among the states with good 
roads instead of being far behind in this respect. 

AND TOMORROW 

We are beginning to realize as Minnesota changes 
from a state of wild nature, to a center of civiliza- 
tion, that we ought to keep as much of "Minne- 
sota, sky-ey water" as possible. 

We have talked much of the beauty of our State, 
though none too much. One of the great gifts 
from those who thought of your future are the 
regions set aside for keeping trees and wild animals 
as nearly as possible in their native state. Almost 
all of our cities and towns have spaces for breathing 
places, for beauty spots, and for playgrounds be- 
longing to everybody in the town ; and the State 
for our pleasure has made four parks, which are 
most unusual in their scenery. 

For years J. V. Brower of St. Cloud worked 
long and perseveringly to get the head waters of 
the Mississippi River set aside, so that the forests 
which were being cut off, might be kept and the 
place preserved, for it is most interesting and 
will be to future generations to see the source of 
the river. 



The Star of the North 339 

At last 1111891, the State gave for Itasca Park the 
lands which belonged to Minnesota; later it bought 
others which had been taken up and persuaded 
Congress to give to the State all the public land in 
that district on condition that it should be kept 
forever as a park. This tract, a little more than 
five by seven miles, is in Clearwater, Hubbard 
and Becker counties, taking in Lake Itasca. 

The State has built in the park a house called 
Douglas Lodge where people may go to stay. Stu- 
dents in the Forestry Department of the Univer- 
sity, camp in the park each year to study the woods, 
which are of great variety and very remarkable, 
especially the white pine. There are many rare 
wild flowers about the lakes and woods, among 
them three kinds of the moccasin flower, which, of 
course, ought to grow in our State park. There are 
remains too, of Indian villages lived in ages ago 
which are interesting to study. No one is allowed 
to shoot within the park limits, and beaver and 
deer are increasing there. 

The Interstate Park at Taylors Falls is on one 
side of the St. Croix River while Wisconsin has 
a park on the opposite bank. In this way we are 
preserving the picturesque falls and interesting 
surroundings forever. This was the first inter- 
state park in our country, and for many years was 
a cherished plan of George Hazzard, who at last 



340 Our Minnesota 

realized his dream, and he was made superintendent 
in 1895. Minnesota owns one hundred and fifty- 
acres here and the Wisconsin park on the other side 
is much larger. The name of the river comes from 
the French and means holy cross, while the word 
"dalles" means slab or flagstone. At this place 
the St. Croix River rushes between high bluffs mak- 
ing a narrow gorge over which flow the foaming 
cataracts. 

This is a wonderful place not only for what is 
left of its forest, but because when this State of 
ours was made. Nature left distinct traces of the 
great glacier or fields of ice, which once moved 
down the river bed. The stone bluffs on either 
side of the St. Croix River were carved by the 
glacier into all sorts of queer shapes which show 
just how the glacier worked, and here people who 
are studying geology may learn a great deal. 
There are natural bridges, arches, fascinating caves, 
moss-covered rocks, and lovely little spots hollowed 
out and filled in the spring with flowers. There 
are pot holes, giant kettles, "devil's chair," 
"glacier gardens," pulpits, caves, "the gopher," 
and other forms whose names give us an idea of the 
strange shapes the rocks take. The flowers and 
plants are the most interesting growing on any 
volcanic place east of the Rocky Mountains and 
the superintendent is constantly planting more 



The Star of the North 341 

and more flowers which grow in other parts of 
Minnesota, so that in time every kind that grows 
wild in the State may be seen here. This was once 
the battle-field of the vSioux and Ojibways who 
fought all along the valley and so many traces of 
these battles were found that Governor Ramsey 
called it a "place of skulls." 

The Alexander Ramsey Park is near Redwood 
Falls at the place where Ramsey Creek and the 
Redwood River unite, making three cataracts all 
different and near together. It is very unusual to 
find anything like these falls in the midst of a great 
prairie, for this is the place where there never were 
any heavy woods or forests, and yet the water 
plunges from a solid mass of rock into a ravine of 
wild beauty with shrubs and trees which are found 
nowhere else for many miles. This park is in the 
midst of the reservation which was given to the 
Indians by the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux, 
and is surrounded by many places of which we 
have read, trading posts, an Indian church, the 
remains of Fort Ridgely and is near to the monu- 
ments which the State has erected in memory of 
1862. 

The newer parks are Minneopa near Mankato 
and the Horace Austin State Park at Austin, 
where there is much of historic interest as well as 
natural beauty. 



342 Our Minnesota 

We have seen how our forests have been wasted 
and how much of wealth and beauty we have lost, 
which can never be restored, though the parks and 
reserves will help. What is called re-forestation or 
making new forests where the old ones have been 
cut off will help much more. The State has set 
aside two Forest Reserves, one near Burntside Lake 
in St. Louis County, the other, Pillsbury Forest, 
near Cass Lake. In these forests the trees are 
preserved and new ones set out in bare and waste 
places. These forests and parks are all under the 
care of the State Forestry Service which has charge 
of fire prevention also, for fire is the worst foe of 
this department. Millions of acres of young pine 
and spruce are growing up where the old trees were 
cut or burned. If we can keep these trees from 
destructive fires, we shall always have great forests 
and wood and paper at moderate cost. 

The State Forester, Wm. T. Cox, and the sec- 
retary. General C. C. Andrews, are devoting them- 
selves to preserving the beauty and usefulness 
of our forests, and the Forest Service is also 
helping tourists and campers by cutting trails, 
pointing out canoe routes, and posting signs. 
The State established Arbor Day for the pur- 
pose of re-forestation and in 1888 passed a law 
that money should be paid from the State treasury 
every year for " bounties " to people who plant trees. 



The Star of the North 343 

Two dollars and a half an acre for six years is given 
for trees planted and already people have earned 
over six hundred thousand dollars in this way. It 
would be so easy for all of you to have trees in your 
school yard, too, for it makes the town you live in 
and the school grounds more attractive, and it is 
much pleasanter to go to school when the school- 
house has a homelike setting. 

There is nothing more interesting to watch all 
the year through than the life of the trees. When 
you come back to school in September, the shade 
in the hot days and the green grass make the 
beginning of work much easier; and the change of 
color from green to red or yellow is a joy each 
day. Then, when the falling leaves cover the side- 
walks and rustle under your feet and the queer 
autumn smell comes up, you begin to think of 
the pleasures of winter. When the leaves are all 
gone, the tracery of the gnarled branches makes a 
charming picture against the sky, and if they are 
covered with furry snow or glittering ice, they are 
wonderful. 

Suddenly one day in March you feel a difference 
and the trees feel it too. There are no buds, nor 
signs of them, but the bark looks different, and 
instead of stiff twigs and branches, they wave a 
little in the air, the color comes, — and then the 
little buds begin to show. All the weeks of early 



344 Our Minnesota 

spring they are different each day, the red of maple, 
the furry gray pink of the oak, the greenish gray of 
the elm, little by little turning to tender green 
and then suddenly — summer and vacation are 
here. 

Since the very beginning of our State history, 
laws have been made to preserve the wild animals 
which were once so plentiful, though they were not 
made soon enough to keep all of them. The 
buffalo are all gone, the moose and caribou are 
very few, deer are less plentiful than formerly, 
and the fine fur-bearing animals are becoming 
scarce. 

People destroy game in many foolish ways, for 
they trap mink in the summer, against the law and 
when the fur isn't good; beaver just for curiosity, 
and "pot hunters" wastefully kill much game. 
Caribou may not be shot at all now, some of our 
animals are being preserved in parks where they 
are protected, and because of this the elk and deer 
very lately have begun to come back. All the 
wild animals possible should be put into parks 
where they may be quiet and live their lives in the 
wilds they love, so that in the future we may again 
be one of the great fur states. 

Lately people have begun to raise wild animals 
for their fur. The skunk is raised on these fur 
farms and is very easy to get and to take care of, 



The Star of the North 345 

and there are several mink farms in Minnesota, a 
large one at Pine River. 

The most interesting of all these is, perhaps, a 
ranch at Devil track Lake in Cook County, in the 
northern part of Minnesota. This was a wonderful 
place for fine fur, before the animals were driven 
out, and the Robertson brothers are making a great 
success of their farm. It takes a good deal of 
knowledge to know just what kind of food to give 
to each animal, and a great deal of patience to 
learn their habits. The animals which live in that 
section, — marten, beaver, otter, fisher, and black 
fox are always in demand for their fur. They had 
on this farm last year many animals, among them 
fourteen pairs of silver fox, one of which sold for 
twenty-five hundred dollars. There is a great 
future in this direction in Minnesota, and it is as 
interesting as anything could be. 

In 1 90 1 the Game and Fish Commission was 
established and laws were passed by people who 
knew about the habits of game and fish, to prevent 
their destruction. But in spite of these laws the 
game birds have become fewer and fewer. 

So many of them may be killed where no one 
may see or ever know it, that we should learn 
when they must not be shot or trapped. The 
quail, "bobwhite," such a delightful bird, who 
is friendly and loves to be near people, has be- 



346 Our Minnesota 

come scarce because killed out of season by so 
many people, and because food is scarce in the 
winter. The passenger pigeons which used to be 
so plentiful that swarms of them flew over this 
State in great clouds, are all gone and many other 
rare birds are getting scarce. We ought to have 
more forests where no game may be shot ; we ought 
never to use automatic guns, and besides this, peo- 
ple who want to shoot game ought to pay a higher 
license than now. 

In the southern part of the State the birds are 
disappearing. The little song birds are useful as 
well as beautiful, for they eat up tons of insects 
every year, and if they are not protected in time 
we shall have fewer forests and fewer crops. The 
** friendly birds," meadow-larks, bluebirds, and 
robins, followed the settlers to this part of the 
country and are friends indeed, for they love to 
be near people; while the shy beautiful thrushes 
with their lovely songs will stay near if they feel 
that they are protected. The birds that are ene- 
mies to all other birds are the English sparrows 
which are neither useful nor beautiful to look at 
nor to hear, and to help to get rid of them is a duty 
of every boy and girl. 

We have lakes in plenty in Minnesota; surely we 
have fish in plenty too. There are so many kinds 
in our lakes that they are hardly to be counted, 



The Star of the North 347 

some of them very delicate and almost all of them 
good food. The Lake Superior whitefish and lake 
trout are peculiar to the north and the Indians 
used to live on them in the winter. The great 
sturgeon in the rivers, the innumerable kinds of fish 
good to eat and easy to catch in the lakes, and the 
rare brook trout in our streams, are all protected 
by law but are not increasing so fast as they should. 
The State has established fish hatcheries ; at Glen- 
wood, Deerwood, Detroit, and at Willow Brook near 
the Indian Mounds on the river below St. Paul. 
Pouring into the houses which are built for the 
fish are many cold streams of the water which 
they love, and here the eggs are hatched by the 
millions, in just the right temperature to make the 
best kind of fish. Outside the houses are numbers 
of ponds with water running through them where 
the fish live and lay their eggs. Excepting black 
bass, most of the fish which live in our waters are 
raised here, and a specialty is made of trout, con- 
sidered the most delicate of all table fish. 

There are many kinds of trout which have been 
brought here from different parts of the United 
States, from the Rangeley Lakes in Maine to the 
Rockies; and the albino, a pure white trout raised 
here is found nowhere else. The State plants 
"fish fry" in different lakes and streams all over 
Minnesota, and you should learn that it is a good 



34^ Our Minnesota 

thing to cultivate fish as well as other things, for a 
fish farm would be a paying investment and there 
is so much water in the State that it should not 
be expensive. 

Minnesota has given so much to us, that we 
ought to think every day of how we may serve her. 
In our State, Nature has withheld nothing from us 
and we should see that so far as possible, we take 
care of the natural treasures which are ours. We 
have talked a good deal about our crops, but after 
all, the very best crop which Minnesota can raise 
is citizens and it depends upon you to make this a 
good one. 

There are three things around which the associa- 
tions of our State cluster. These are our State 
fiag, our State flower, and our State House, usually 
called the Capitol, where all the laws of Minnesota 
are made. 

THE STATE FLAG 

We never had a State flag until 1893 when a com- 
mittee of women was appointed to make a design. 
This was about the same time that we adopted a 
State flower, and the reason for both was that Min- 
nesota might take her place with dignity at the Col- 
umbian Exposition in Chicago, to celebrate the four 
hundredth anniversary of the discovery of America. 



The Star of the North 349 

The beautiful flag adopted is of white silk, lined 
with blue and edged with a heavy gold fringe. In 
the center is the seal of the State and around it a 
blue band on which is a wreath of moccasin flowers 
entwined with red ribbon whose ends float across 
the flag. On the ribbon at the top is the State 
motto UEtoile du Nord (meaning "The Star 
of the North") and on the left side "1819," the 
date of the first permanent settlement at Fort 
Snelling; on the right, the date ** 1893"; and above, 
"1858." 

In groups around the design are nineteen stars, 
because Minnesota was the nineteenth state, after 
the original ones, to be admitted, and in the flag 
the north star is at the top. The whole flag is 
mounted on a gilt standard and tied with gold cords. 
On the top of this standard is a little brass gopher, 
sitting erect and looking as if he understood what it 
was all about. 

The original flag is now in the governor's room 
at the State House. It is embroidered in heavy 
silk and is so beautiful that it makes us prouder 
than ever that it belongs to us. 

The first State flag carried by the Minnesota 
troops in the Spanish- American War is also in the 
State House, in a glass case, and although we are 
proud of our record in both of the wars in which we 
fought, we all hope that forever in the future, our 



350 Our Minnesota 

flag will be carried forward in a peace movement 
instead of war. 

OUR STATE FLOWER 

The women of Minnesota started the plan for a 
flower as well as a flag for the State, as all countries 
and most of the states have their own chosen flower. 

There is the rose of England, the thistle of 
Scotland, and the shamrock of Ireland. The 
State botanist, Mr. McMillan, suggested several 
flowers which grow among the thousands or more 
in Minnesota; among them the Indian pink, the 
aster, brown-eyed susan, wild rose and lady slipper. 
These were all sent to the women's clubs to be 
voted upon and they chose the la.dy slipper which 
is called Venus shoe, Indian shoe and moccasin 
flower. There are twenty-five kinds of this odd 
little flower growing in our State, pink, yellow, large 
and small, purple, and white with pink veins — all 
of them beautiful. The one which was especially 
chosen for us has a longer Latin name, Cypripedium 
spectahile or showy moccasin flower. This is the 
wonderful tall pink and white one, though any moc- 
casin flower is generally considered our State flower. 

Miss Helen Castle has painted a very perfect 
picture of the State flower which you may see hang- 
ing in the governor's room, in the State House, 
a copy of which is on the first page of our book. 



The Star of the North 351 

This flower easily adapts itself to decoration and 
has been used a great deal. You remember it 
twines around the seal in our State flag, and in the 
State House the architect has put it into many- 
designs, best seen at the top, which we call the 
capital, of the pillars in the building inside and 
out. 

There was a sad but beautiful story told of the 
beginning of the moccasin flower. The daughter of 
a chief whose father died when she was a little girl, 
grew up with her brothers and learned to shoot and 
hunt and do all the things that the boys did. She 
always wanted to go on hard trails and take long 
trips into the woods, and because the other young 
Indian girls didn't care so much for this, she often 
had to go alone. One day she had gone farther 
than usual into the deep forest and was overtaken 
by one of those great fires which burn our woods 
and cause so much sadness even today. Day after 
day and week after week her heartbroken mother 
and her brothers searched for her, but they never 
saw a trace of the lost girl until the next year 
when the mother found the curious flower which is 
just like a little embroidered moccasin, and which 
came up to show where she had fallen. From that 
day until now these dainty moccasin flowers have 
grown all through our woods, and remind us of the 
Indian girl who was lost. They mean more to us 



352 Our Minnesota 

than any other of all the unusual blossoms in the 
State because we have adopted them as our own. 

THE CAPITOL 

From time to time people have wanted to change 
the State House from St. Paul, and you remember 
the fate of the first attempt in 1857. Again in 1869, 
a bill was passed to move the capital to Kandiyohi 
County where there were many acres of State lands, 
and it would have been moved had not the governor 
vetoed the bill, which means that he refused to 
sign it. 

A Capitol building was put up in 1853 but was 
burned in 188 1 while the legislature was in session 
and they met in the Market House in St. Paul until 
what was considered a very grand new State House, 
now called the "Old Capitol," was erected. We 
soon outgrew this, though it is still used for many 
of the State offices. 

In 1 90 1 the question again came up for the last 
time, and a new State House was provided for, 
which settled the matter that it should stay where 
it had always been. It is situated on a hill which 
gives a wide view and where it may be seen for 
miles in every direction. The approach which is 
planned for the future will make it most dignified 
and imposing in appearance. 



The Star of the North 353 

The design was made by Cass Gilbert, a St. Paul 
man, whose plan was taken as the best, although 
forty others were offered. The building was be- 
gun in 1896, the cornerstone laid in 1898 by Gov. 
Ramsey who used a silver trowel, which was pre- 
sented to him as a token of the love of the'.State. 
It was most fitting that the man who, young, vig- 
orous, full of hope for the future ; tall, straight, with 
life before him, had laid the first cornerstone of our 
State, by writing a proclamation in the little log 
tavern almost half a century before, should now, 
aged, white-haired and full of years which had been 
given to the service of the State, be the one to ful- 
fill the promise of one half a hundred years before 
and lay the cornerstone of that great building, 
which was to represent Minnesota in the future as 
well as carry on the work of the past. 

The exercises at this time were most impressive. 
The oration was made by our greatest statesman, 
Cushman K. Davis, and Charles W. Graves of 
Duluth, one of the commissioners, gave an address 
for them. Archbishop Ireland, who also had come 
here a young man and who was now venerable and 
full of years, made the prayer and Bishop Gilbert, 
well loved by every one, both east and west, gave 
the benediction. 

The great building, which was finished in 1904, 
covers more than a city block and is two hundred 

23 



354 Our Minnesota 

and twenty feet high. It cost about four millions 
of dollars and the commissioners, who had it in 
charge, were H. W. Lamberton of Winona, James 
McHench of Fairmont, George DuToit of Chaska, 
Channing Seabury of St. Paul, John DeLaittre 
of Minneapolis, Charles Graves of Duluth, and 
E. E. Coreliss of Fergus Falls, one chosen from each 
district which sends a representative to Washington. 
They served the State from 1893 until 1905 and were 
so careful of the funds, which they had intrusted to 
them, that not one word of blame or censure is 
breathed against them, and the work was so well 
done that we should always be grateful to these men. 

The building so far as possible was made from 
Minnesota products. The basement walls, steps 
and terraces are from the heavy substantial St. 
Cloud granite; the foundation, of Minnesota brick; 
the dome, of Kettle River sandstone; the inside 
walls, of cement made in the State. Many people 
wanted the building itself of Minnesota stone, but 
because of the style, which is Romanesque, Georg- 
ian marble was used instead. The interior is lined 
with Kasota stone polished. The great staircases, 
which go up from the center, are the most imposing 
feature of the building, the columns and balus- 
trades of beautiful marbles from Italy and the 
Greek Islands. 

The great columns in the Senate Chamber are 



The Star of the North 355 

marble from France. In the House and vSupreme 
Court rooms the marble comes from Vermont and 
the square panels around the rotunda are from old 
convent quarries near Sienna. Some of the marble 
is from the Nile River in Egypt and much of it 
from different states in our own country. The 
great skylight in the House is one of the most 
beautiful in the country. 

All of the pictures, which are many and fine, are 
by American artists and tell stories of our history. 
The entrance is surmounted by a huge figure 
called a Quadriga, representing The Progress of the 
State. It is the work of Daniel French and Ed- 
ward Potter, American sculptors, and is of copper 
gilded — and stands out, sparkling in the sunshine 
or gleaming on dull days, as far as the eye can see. 
From the lowest basement to the gilded top of the 
great white dome, the State House of Minnesota is 
majestic, and the more you study it the more im- 
pressive it is, for everything about the building 
tells a story of the great State it stands for. If 
you look closely at the American flag which floats 
above it, I am sure you will see that the thirty- 
second star is just a little bit bigger, and just a little 
bit whiter, and looks just a little more starry, than 
any of the others, and it should, because it is the 
North — the guiding star, and it is ours. 



356 



Our Minnesota 



THE GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA 

TERRITORIAL 

Alexander Ramsey, Pennsylvania June i, 1849, to May 15, 

1853 
Willis A. Gorman, Indiana 



Samuel Medary, Ohio 



May 15, 1853, to April 

23, 1857 
April 23, i857,to May 24, 
1858 



STATE 



Henry H. Sibley, St. Paul 
Alexander Ramsey, St. Paul 
Henry A. Swift, St. Peter 
Stephen Miller, Worthington 



May 24, 1858, to January 

2, i860 
January 2, i860, to July 

10, 1863 
July 10, 1863, to January 

11, 1864 
January 11, 1864, to Jan- 
uary 8, 1866 

William R. Marshall, St. Anthony January 8, 1866, to Jan- 
uary 9, 1870 
Horace Austin, St. Peter January 9, 1870, to Jan- 

uary 7, 1874 

January 7, 1874, to Jan- 
uary 7, 1876 

January 7, 1876, to Jan- 
uary 10, 1882 

January 10, 1882, to Jan- 
uary 5, 1887 

January 5, 1887, to Jan- 
uary 9, 1889 

January 9, 1889, to Jan- 
uary 4, 1893 



Cushman K. Davis, St. Paul 
John S. Pillsbury, Minneapolis 
Lucius F. Hubbard, Red Wing 
A. R. McGill, St. Peter 
William R. Merriam, St. Paul 



The Star of the North 357 

Knute Nelson, Alexandria January 4, 1893, to Jan- 

uary 31, 1895 

David M. Clough, Minneapolis January 31, 1895, to Jan- 

uary 2, 1899 

John Lind, New Ulm January 2, 1899, to Jan- 

uary 7, 1 901 

Samuel R. Van Sant, Winona January 7, 1901, to Jan- 

uary 4, 1905 

John A. Johnson, St. Peter January 4, 1905, to Sep- 

tember 21, 1909 

Adolph O. Eberhart, Mankato September 21, 1909, to 

January 5, 1915 

Winfield S. Hammond, St. James January 5, 1915, to De- 
cember 30, 191 5 

J. A. A. Bumquist, St. Paul December 30, 1915- 

DATES TO REMEMBER 

1655-56 Radisson and Groseilliers — first white explorers. 

1680 DuLuth reached Mississippi River. 

1680 Hennepin discovered St. Anthony Falls. 

1689 Perrot claimed Minnesota for France. 

1700 LeSueur built fort on Blue Earth River. 

1763 East of the Mississippi River, English — West of the 

Mississippi River, Spanish. 
1766-67 Carver visited St. Anthony Falls and "Carver's 

Cave." 
1783 West of the Mississippi River, United States. 

1787 Ordinance of 1787. 

1794 Northwest Fur Company in Minnesota. 

1796 Ordinance of 1787 over all Northwest. 

1803 Louisiana Purchase. 

1803-04 WilHam Morrison visited source of the Mississippi 

River. 



35^ Our Minnesota 

1805 Pike's Treaty. 

18 12 Selkirk's colony on the Red River. 

1 8 19 First fort at Mendota, Colonel Leavenworth com- 

mander, Major Taliaferro Indian agent. 

1820 Fort Snelling built. 

1823 First steamboat at Mendota. 

1826 Red River colony settle near Fort Snelling. 

1837 Indian treaties cede pine lands. 

1838 Franklin Steele makes first "claim" at St. Anthony 

— Pierre Parrant makes claim and builds on 

site of St. Paul. 

1 841 Saint Paul chapel — town named. 

1843 Stillwater settled. 

1849 Minnesota Territory organized. 

1 85 1 Indian treaties for land west of the Mississippi. 

1857 October thirteenth, State Constitution adopted. 
. Ink-pa-doo-ta Massacre. 

1858 May eleventh, State admitted. 

186 1 Troops enlist at Fort Snelling. First Minnesota 

leaves for war. 

1862 Sioux Outbreak. First railroad in State. 
1865 Minnesota regiments return. 

1 88 1 State House burned. 

1898 Cornerstone of new State House laid. 

1905 Legislature met in new State House. 

1908 Fiftieth anniversary of statehood. 



INDEX 



Abbe, Mrs. A. F., 231 

Acker, William, 208 

Acton, 221, 320 

Admission of State, 186 

Agassiz, Lake, 274 

Agate, 311 

Agents, 218; Indian, 138, 268; 

special Indian, 128 
Agricultural Society, 202, 319 
Agriculture, 187, 191-200 
Aitkin, 170, 305 
Ako, Michel, 89 
Albert Lea, 99 
Alexander, E. B., 218 
Algonquins, 57 
Allen, James, 269 
AUouez, Claude, loi 
Altitude, 2 
American Fur Company, 115- 

138 
Andrews, C. C, 213, 333, 342 
Animals in Minnesota, 345 
"Armuity," 221 
Anoka, 53, 169 
Apostle Islands, loi 
Arbor Day, 342 
Arbutus, Legend of, 36 
Archibald mills, 107 
Areola, 167 
Argo, no 
Army of the Potomac, 210, 

211 



Army, United States, 128 
Astor, John Jacob, 115 
Atwood mill, 167 
Ayer, Frederick, 163 

B 

Babbitt, Frances, 48 

Bailly, Alexis, 71, 117 

Banfil, John, 148 

Banks, 336 

Banning, Wm., 250, 251 

Baptism River, 273 

Barbecue, 55 

Barr, J. W., 155 

Bass' Tavern, 153 

Bath, Indian steam, 90 

Battle Coulie, 319 

Baudette, 282 

Bear Islanders, 283 

Becker Co., 276 

Bell, Edwin, 273 

Beltrami, Constantine, 97, 

267 

County, 266 

Bemidji, 53 

Bible, Dakota, 105 

Big Stone Lake, 54, 61, 97, 

245, 274, 307 
Birch Coulie, 229 
Birds, 344, 346 
Bishop, Mrs. Harriet, 288 
Bishop, J. W., 214 
Blakeley, Russell, 247, 274 



359 



36o 



Index 



Blanket Indians, 107 
Blashfield, Edward, 80 
Blue Earth, 51; Co., 51; 

River, 94 
Bluestone, John, 30 
Boats, 236, 254, 255, 275 
Bobleter, Camp, 134 
Bois brule, 136 
Bois Brule River, 263 
Bois des Sioux, 62 
"Bonanza farms," 196 
Boom, land, 182, 183; logging, 

167 
Boundaries, of Minnesota, 

61-63; northern, 267 
Bounties, 342 
Boutwell, Rev. James, 103, 

269 
"Brackett's Battalion," 214 
Breckenridge, 62, 218, 249 
Bremer, Frederika, 333 
Bridge, 246, 317; first, 140 
British traders, 128 
Brower, J. V., 270, 338 
Brown, Joseph Renshaw, 138, 

146, 163, 314 
Brown's Falls, 314 
Brown's Valley, 61, 244, 275 
Buchanan, James, 186 
Buffalo hunt, 124 
Building, 240 

Bull Run, battle of, 208, 211 
Burbank, J. C, 247 
Burntside Forest, 342 
Butter, 202 



Calhoun, John C, 128, 313 
Calhoun, Lake, 104 
Calumet, 52, 84, 309 



Cameron, Simon, 207 
Camp, Cold Water, 130; first 

in Minnesota, 129; Release, 

230, 320 
Campbell, Scott, 108 
Cannon River, 197 
Canoe, 123 
Canoe routes, 254 
Capital, 181; removal bill, 

181 
Capitol, 320, 351 
Carioles, 236 
Carleton, 180 
Carver, Jonathan, 48, 64, 94- 

96, 236, 274 
Carver's Cave, 64, 316 
Cass, Lewis, 254, 266 
Cass Lake, 96, 266, 342 
Castle, Helen, 350 
Cathedral of St. Paul, no, 

III 
Catlin, George, 98, 308 
Catlinite, 309 
Cattle, 337 
Cavalier, Robert, 87 
Caynna Range, 305 
Cemetary Ridge, 215 
Census, 332; first, 153; judges 

of, i53;of 1850, 333 
Central House, 154, 156 
Chapel, Father Galtier's, 107 
Chaska, 53 
Cheese, 202 
Chickamauga, 212 
Chippewa, 12, 20, 218, 231 

alsOf see Ojibways 
Chippewa, Sioux battle with, 

77 
Chisago, 54 

Church of St. Paul, 108 
Churches, early, 148 
Cinch bug, 200' 



Index 



361 



Civil War, 204-217, 220; 

flags, 216 
Claims, land, 174 
Claim jimiping, 166, 175 
Clark, Charlotte Ouisconsin, 

102, 129, 322 
Clark, Nathan, 322 
Clay, 310 

Clearwater Coimty, 54 
Climate, 8 
Cloquet, 180, 273 
College, Agricultural, 187, 

293 
Colvillj Wm., 215, 321^ 
Commissioner of Indian 

Affairs, 70 
Confederacy, 220 
Constitution, State, 185 
Congress, first delegate to, 

139, 155 
Congressmen, 185 
Coon Creek, 148 
Copper, 233, 301; Mine, 

Le Sueur's, 94 
Corduroy road, 242 
Coreliss, E. D., 354 
Corinth, 213 
Com, Indian plant, 187 
Comwallis, Lord Charles, 

212 
Coteau des Prairies, 308 
Cottage Grove, 150, 288 
Cottonwood River, 54, 240 
Counties, formation of, 189 
Coimties in Minnesota, 335 
Coureur des hois, 113, 235 
Court House, 307 
Cox, Wm. T., 342 
Creameries, 202 
Cretin, Rev. Joseph, no 
Crooks, Ramsey, 139 
Crooks, Wm., 249, 256 



Crops, 191-203, 336 
Crow Wing, 54, 151, 305 
Cruiser, timber, 174 
Cuba, 282 
Cyclones, 277 
Cypripedium spectabikf 35 

D 

Dakota Bible, 105 

Dictionary, 105, 326 

language, 92 

Dakotas, 11, 104, 146, 231, 

253 

Department of the, 133 

Dalles of the St. Croix, 340 
Dalrymple farm, 196 
Dam, St. Anthony, 171 
Dance of Thunder Bird, 71 
Daughters of the American 

Revolution, 312 
Davis, Cushman K., 323, 353 
Dayton's Bluff, 64, 316 
DeLaittre, John, 354 
De Soto, Hernando, 259 
Development of Minnesota, 

7, 336 
Deviltrack Lake, 344 
Dewey, George, 283 
Dictionary, Dakota, 105 
Discoverers, 79-99 
Discovery of Mississippi 

River, 89, 93, 260 
Discovery of St. Anthony 

Falls, 91 
Dog, drags, 235; sleds, 149; 

trains, 116 
Dolomite, 307 
Donnelly, Ignatius, 182 
Douglas Lodge, 339 
Douglas, Stephen, 184 
Du Gay, Picard, 89 
Dugout, 236 



362 



Index 



Du Luth, Daniel Graysolon, 

86, 92, 114, 263, 306 
Duluth, 188, 251, 281 
Durant, E. W., 168 
Du Toit, George, 353 



E 



Eagle Eye, 50 
Eames, H. H., 302 
Early claims, 145 
Early crops, 142 
"Early Days," 127-160 
Early money, 171 
Early schools, 147, 148 
Early settlers, 142-160 
Education, 285-296 
Election of 1857, 185 
Election returns, 185 
Elgin, 278 
Elk, 23 

Ely, 303 

Enabling Act, 184 

English, claims on land, 56; 

fur trade, 115; traders, 96 
Experimental farms, 294 
Explorers, 79-102; first white 

81 
Exports, 202 
Express Company, 247 



F 



Factories, fur, 115, 118 

Factors, 234 

Fair Oaks, 211 

Faribault, 198, 250, 290, 307 

Faribault, Alexander, 136 

Faribault, Jean. Baptiste, 1 08 , 

135 
Farmers, 191 
Farming, 131, 187, 191-200 



Farms, 294 

"Father of Waters," 31, 259 
Feather bonnet, 18 
Featherstonhaugh, George, 

W.,97 

Ferry, 134, i37, 242, 317 
First Minnesota Regiment, 

208,210,215,295 
Fish, 356; hatcheries, 75, 347 
Fisher, Jacob, 166 
Flag, 209; Civil War, 216; 

removal of, 216; State, 

348, 349 
Flandrau, Chas. E., 148, 219, 

225, 226, 227, 232, 312, 320, 

322 
Flaxseed, 202 
Flint chips, 48 
Flour, 199 

Flour manufacture, 198 
Flour mills, 178, 197 
Flowers, 7 
Flower, State, 351 
Folwell, W. W., 295 
Fond du Lac, 61, loi, 124, 

312 
Forest fires, 166, 180, 277- 

282 
Forest Reserve, 342 
Forester, State, 180 
Forestry Department, 339 
Forests, 161-180, 338, 341 
Forsyth, Thomas, 128, 129 
Port Abercrombie, 218 
Fort, first, 129 
Fort Gaines, 148 
Fort Perrot, 114 
Fort Ridgely, 77, 218, 222, 

223, 227, 241, 314, 316 
Fort Ripley, 146, 148, 218, 

231, 316 
Fort St. Anthony, 130 



Index 



363 



Fort St. Antoine, 93 

Fort Snelling, 65, 68, 78, 96, 

127-135, 147, 149, 206, 

209, 223, 317 
Fort Sneliing, building of, 

131 

Fort Snelling, deserted, 132; 
early mails, 132; early- 
social life, 134; sold, 132; 
squatters, 132; today, 134, 

135 

Fort William, 124, 242 

"Forty-four" Lake, 245 
Forty-niners, 135, 321 
Fountain Cave, 144, 316 
Fourth Minnesota Regiment, 

213 
Fox Indians, 54 
Fox-Wisconsin route, 261 
French and Indian Wars, 57 
French claims on land, 56 
French fur trade stopped, 114 
French influence, 80-102 
French settlements, 80-102 
French traders, 1 13 
Frontenac, 94 
Frontiers, 252 
Fuller House, 182 
Fur farms, 344 
Fur, forty kinds of, 122 
Fur trade, 1 12-126; decline 

of, 117; English, 115; 

French stopped, 114 
Fur traders, 82; English, 127 
Fur trading, 312 
Fur trading posts, 119 

G 

Galena, 147, 247, 315 
Galtier, Rev. Lucius, 108, 143 



Game, 5, 344, 345 

Game laws, 186 

Game and Fish Commission, 

345 
"G. A. R.,"2i7 
Gear, Rev. Lucien, 231 
Geography, 2-8 
Gervais, Benjamin, 109 
Gervais brothers, 143 
Gettysburg, 215 
Giant Range, 385 
Gilbert, Cass, 353 
Gitchi-Manitou, 52 
Gold mining, 302 
Goodhue, James, 156 
Goodhue County, 159 
Goose Rapids, 273 
Gopher State, origin of name, 

112 
Gordon, Hanford L., 258 
Gorman, Willis, 208, 212 
Government survey, 97 
Grand Marais, 310 
Grand Portage, 95, 118, 119, 

124, 242, 254, 270 
Grand Rapids, 239 
Granite, 307, 354 
Grant, U. S., 134 
Grants, railroad, 141 
Grasshoppers, 199 
Graves, Chas., 353 
Great Lakes, 79, 188, 251, 

253 

Great Northern Railroad, 
279 

Grey Cloud Island, 138 

Groseilliers, Sieur de (Men- 
ard Chouart), 81-83, 254, 
260 

Guerin, 100 

Guerin, Vetal, 109, 143 

Gulf of Mexico, 259 



364 



Index 



H 

"Haha,"3i4 

"Hail! Minnesota," 329 

Hancock, Rev. Joseph, 147 

Hancock Winfield S., 215 

Happy Hunting Grounds, 33 

Harriet, Lake, 104, 315 

Harvester, 195 

Hastings, 61, 93, 138, 140, 

179 
Hawkins, Sir John, 204 
Hayokah, 32 
Hazel wood Republic, 106, 

222 
Hazzard, George, 339 
Hennepin, Father Louis, Sy^ 

89, 90, 92, 262, 263 
Henry, Alexander, 254 
Hesler, 315 
Hiawatha, 41, 315 
Hill, Jas. J., 252, 323 
Hinckley fire, 279 
Historical Society, Minn., 

48, 154, 270, 325-328 
Hole-in-the-Day, 69, 163, 170 
Holy Spirit Mission, loi 
Hone, David, 165 
Hopkins, Rev. Robert, 32, 71 
Hospes and Staples, 167, 168 
Hospital, St. Joseph's, no; 

State, 296 
Hubbard, Lucius, 213 
Hudson Bay, 81 
Hudson Bay Co., 81, 86, 114 
Hunting, 1 12-125 
Hutchinson, 160, 231 



lagoo, 41 

Iberville, Sieur d', 263 



Ikan-santi, 128 

Immigration, 199; bureau of, 
187 

Im-ni-ja-ska, 53 

Indian, agents, 268; captives, 
230; cemetery, 97; council, 
86-88; legends, 351; mas- 
sacres, 217-232; Mounds 
Park, 47; outbreaks, 217- 
232, 283; payments, 217, 
224; reservations, 157; 
territory, 326; treaties, 
see treaties; wars, 149 

Indians, 12-27, 31-55. 76, 
77, 91, 98, 106, 107, 165, 
220, 230, 233; Chippewa, 
see O jib ways; Pillager, 103; 
Sioux, see Sioux. 

Ink-Pa-Doo-Ta, 218 

International Falls, 273 

Interpreter, U. S., 133 

Interstate Park, 339 

Ireland, Rev. John, 318, 323, 

353 
Irish, 193 
Iron fields, 180 
Iron mines, 305, 337 
Irvine, J. B., 211 
Isanti, 84 

Isle Royale, 83, 301 
Itasca, Lake, 269 
Itasca Park, 338, 339 



Jackson, Henry, 145, 156 
Jackson House, 328 
Jackson, Minn., 218 
Jasper, red, 308 
Jefferson, Thomas, 60, 265 
Jesuit Fathers, 261 
John Otherday, 106 



Index 



365 



John^son, John A., 324, 334 
Joliet, Louis, 261 
Judd, Lewis, 165, 166, 313 
Julia, Lake, 268 

K 

Kanabec, 54 

Kandiyohi, 352 

Kaposia, 51, 65, 75, 105, 319 

Kasota, 51, 307 

Kasson, 307 

Kemper, Rev. Jackson, 148 

Kettle River, 180, 280, 354 

Kittson, Norman, 137, 243, 

254, 323 
Knife Lake, 84, 260 



Lac qui Parle, 54, 105, 124, 
137, 138, 237, 246, 274, 
312 
LaCroix, Edward, 198 
LaCrosse, 16 
Lady Slipper, 339, 351 
Lake, Big Stone, 54, 61, 97, 
245, 274, 275, 307; Cal- 
houn, 104; Detroit, 245; 
Erie, 88; "Forty-four," 
245; Harriet, 3131 Leech, 
20, 124, 283; Michigan, 88; 
of the Woods, 62, 272, 302; 
Pepin, 80, 93, 102, 279; 
St. Croix, 313; Superior, 
61, 62, 85, 233, 252, 346; 
Traverse, 61, 97, 245, 273, 
274, 275; Vermilion, 302 
Lakeland, 168 
Lake Park Region, 276 
Lakes of Minnesota, 2, 275 
Lamberton, H. W., 354 



Land, 56, 63, 173; boom, 182; 
office, 150; sale, 150; sur- 
vey, 173, 174; trouble, 
150, 151 

Landing, The, 155, 173, 174 

Lands, Grant of, 247, 248 

Langdon, Robert B., 178 

LaPointe, loi 

Larpenteur, August, 145, 150 

LaSalle, Robert Cavalier, 87, 
88, 262 

Laws, first, 154 

Leaping Rock, 52 

Leavenworth, Henry, 128- 
130; Mrs., 313 

LeDuc, Wm. G., 194 

Leech Lake, 20, 124, 283 

Legends, 351; Indian, 31-55 

Lester, Henry C, 212 

Le Sueur, 225 

Le Sueur, Pierre, 93, 94, 263, 
264, 300 

Le Sueur's mines, 114 

Le Sueur Tigers, 226 

Libby Prison, 212 

Libraries, school, 290 

License, timber, 163 

Limestone, 51, 307 

Lincoln, Abraham, 184, 206, 
252 

Lind, John, 334 

Little Crow, 74, 78, 97, 105, 
219, 222, 227, 229, 231 

Little Rapids, 124, 136, 274 

Livingston, Robert, 265 

Log drive, 176; first, 170 

Logging, 175, 313 

Loggmg roads, 175, 176 

Long, Stephen S. H., 96, 136, 
266 

Longfellow, Henry, 314 

Long Prairie, 289 



366 



Index 



Loras, Rev. Mathias, 107 
Louis XIV, 114 
Louisiana Purchase, 59, 265 
Louisiana Territory, 59 
Lower Landing, 210 
Lower Sioux, 70, 74-78; 
' Agency, 217, 222, 224, 228; 

reservation, 76, 77 
Luke Lea, 70 
Liunber, 179; camps, 175- 

178; destruction of, 179, 

180; trade, 178; waste, 179, 

180 
Lumbering, 161-180 
Lumberjacks, 175 
Lumbermen, 171 
Luverne, 388 

M 

McCormick, Cyrus, 195 

McHench, James, 354 

McKusick, John, 150, 166 

McLean, Nathaniel, 74 

Machinery, 195 

Mackinaw, 88, 103 

Mackinaw boats, 237 

Madelin Island, loi 

Mah-ka-to, 51 

Mahnomen, 54 

Mahtomedi, 51 

Maiden Rock, 50 

Mail, early, 149; in 1850, 159 

Maine, 282 

Maize, 19 

Manitou, 31, 80 

Mankato, 51, 94, 197, 225, 
227, 230, 240, 275, 300, 310 

Manufactures, 337 

Map, Le Sueur's, 94; Nicol- 
let's, 99 

Maple sugar, 25 



Marine, 146, 151, 165, 168 

Marquette, Pere Jacques, 261 
Marsh, John S., 224, 229 
Massacre, Indian, of 1862, 

217-232 
Mather, Wm. W., ()^ 
Mattson, Hans, 333 
Maza wakan, 90 
Medicine man, 22, 34, 35 
Meeker County, 221 
Menard, Ren^, 99 
Mendota, 50, 74, 98, 108, 

116, 117,129,135,136,139, 

144, 153; ferry, 246 
Merchants' Hotel, 155 
Merritt Brothers, 303 
Mesabi, 53 

Mesabi Range, 180, 303, 307 
Meschipe, 260 
Messipi, loi 

Methodist Church, first, 320 
Militia, State, 208 
Mill, 195; explosion, 277; 

first, 140; first in Stillwater, 

155 

Mille Lac, 12, 54, 82, 86, 260 

Millers, 196 

Milling, 195 

Mills, 197, 202, 277 

Mines, 286, 300, 307; corun- 
dum, 310, 310; iron, 302- 
306 

Minnehaha Falls, 298, 314 

Minneapolis, 51, 52, 158, 159, 
197, 202, 223, 250, 307, 

319, 333 
Minnesota, boundaries, 61- 
63; constitution, 185; de- 
scription, 2-5; growth, 335; 
Historical Society, 325- 
328; Hymn, 329; in Civil 
War, 204-217; name, i; 



Index 



Z^l 



Minnesota — Continued 

regiments, in Civil War, 
210-214; in Spanish- Amer- 
ican War, 282; State, 184; 
Territory, 60 

Minnesota River, 65, 69, 240, 
267, 274-275 

Minnesota Valley, 251 

Minnetonka, Lake, 138, 314 

Mission, American, 103; Lake 
Harriet, 105; of the Holy- 
Spirit, loi; of Saint Mi- 
chael the Archangel, 102; 
schools, 104 

Missionaries, French, 99-102 ; 
American, 1 02-1 11 

Mission Ridge, 213 

Mississippi River, 162, 251, 
259-271; source of, 269 

Missouri River, 262 

Moccasin Flower, 339, 351 

Mondamin, 42 

Monroe, James, 128, 265 

Montreal, 81, 261 

Monuments, Civil War, 320; 
Sioux Massacre, 227, 320 

Morrison, Allan, 270 

Morrison, Dorilus, 178 

Morrison, Wm., 270 

Morse, Sam. F. B., 103 

Mosquitoes, 147 

Motto of State, 190 

Mounds, Indian, 46 

Mower, Martin, 167 

Murfreesboro, 212 

Museum, State Historical 
Society, 327, 328 

N 

Names, Indian, 31-55 
Nashville, battle of, 214 



Nationalities in Minnesota, 
332 

Neill, Rev. E. D., 76, 209, 
287, 321, 326 

Nelson, C. N., 168 

Nelson, Knute, 334 

Nett Lake, 20 

Nettleton, Wm., 247 

New Hope, Camp, 129 

New Orleans, 264 

Newport, 319 

Newspapers, 336 

New Ukn, 95, 218, 222, 225, 
240, 308 

Niagara River, 88 

Nicolet, Jean, 98, 260 

Nicollet Island, 140 

Nicollet, Joseph N., 98, 99, 
270, 302 

Nininger, 182 

"No man's land," 151 

North Star State, 355 

Northern boundary of Min- 
nesota, 272, 312 

Northfield, 250 

Northrup, Cyrus, 295 

Northwest Fur Company, 

115 

Northwest Passage, 95 
Northwest Territory, 59, 60, 
103, 285 



o 



Oanktayhee, 32 
Ohio River, 262 
Ojibway, Indians, 12, 20, 34; 
names, 53-55; reservation, 

30 

Old Bets, 30 

Old settlers, 135-142 

Oliver's Grove, 155 



368 



Index 



Ordinance of 1787, 59, 285 

Ortonville, 311 

Osceola, 167 

Otherday, John, 106, 223 

Ottertail County, 54, 276 

Ouisconsin, Charlotte Clark 

Van Cleve, 129, 321 
Owatonna, 197, 296 
Ox-carts, Red River, 181, 

188, 243, 245, 256 
Ox train, 243 



Packets, 238 

Paint, mineral, 310 

Panic of 1857, 183 

Park, first public, 141 ; Alex. 
Ramsey, 341 ; Horace Aus- 
tin, 344; Minnehaha, 319; 
Minneopa, 341 

Parks, State, 338-341 

Parrant, Pierre, 144 

Paxton farm, 196 

Payments, Indian, 217 

Pembina, 97, 116, 137, 181, 
185, 267 

Pemmican, 121 

Peninsula, Northern, 62 

Penitentiary, State, 297-298 

Perkins, Hardin, 162 

Perrot, Fort, 114 

Perrot, Nicholas, 26, 1 14, 264 

Perry, Abraham, 143 

Peshick, 164 

Pigeon River, 20, 62, 86, 272 

Pig's Eye, 51, I44 

Pike Island, 65, 135, 316 

Pike, Montgomery Zebulon, 

64, 96 
Pike Treaty, 128 
Pillager Indians, 103, 283 



Pillsbury, John S., 178, 200, 

243 

Pillsbury Forest, 342 

Pilot Knob, 50, 74 

Pine, 162, 168, 169, 170 

Pine City, 280 

Pine Coulee, 319 

Pine Point, 254 

Pine River, 344 

Pioneer Minnesota, 142, 160 

Pioneers, 135, 248 

Pipe of Peace, 73 

Pipestone, 52, 308; quarries, 

98 
Plows, 195 
Point Douglas, 61, 146, 168, 

246, 263, 319 
Pokegama, 181, 239, 272 
Political meeting, first, 151 
Pond brothers, 104, 147 
Pond, Sam'l, 313 
Pony drags, 235 
Pony routes, 247 
Population, 332, 335 
Portages, 234, 242 
Post offices, 327, 336 
Pottery factories, 310 
Pow-wow, 55, 67, 69, 71, 90 
Prairie du Chien, 96, 129, 261 
Prairie Island, 82, 93, 114 
Prescott, 151 
Prince Society, 81 
Prison, State, 297 
Progress, State, 336 

Q 

Quebec, 79, 261 
R 

Radisson, Pierre d'Esprit, 81- 
86, 114, 251, 260 



Index 



369 



Railroads in Minnesota, 195, 
248-253; Chicago, Mil- 
waukee and St. Paul, 250; 
Duluth and Iron Range, 
303; grants, 141; Great 
Northern, 252; Lake Su- 
perior and Mississippi Val- 
ley, 251; Minneapolis and 
Cedar Valley, 250; Minne- 
sota Valley, 250; Northern 
Pacific, 251; Northwestern, 
251; Omaha, 251; St. Paul 
and Duluth, 251 
Rainy Lake, 62, 272 
Rainy River, 62, 267, 272 
Ramsey, Alexander, 68, 70, 
133, 142, 152, 153, 185, 
188, 207, 228, 282, 286, 

324, 352 
Ravoux, Father Augustm, no 
Reapers, 195 
Recruits, 207 
Red Cedar Lake, 266 
Red Lake, 20, 54, 124 
Red Mill, 167 
Red Pipe, 308 
Red River, 62, 218, 241, 245, 

267, 273 
Red River ox-carts, 137, 181, 

188, 243, 256 
Red River Valley, 85, 192, 

202 
Red Rock, 33, 61 
Red Wing, 96, 129, 179, 215, 

297, 307, 310 
Red Wing's camp, 147 
Redwood, 54 

Redwood Falls, 217, 241, 310 
Redwood Ferry, 224; battle 

of, 224 
Redwood reservation, 76 
Reed's Landing, 155 



Reese, Charles MacC, 283 
Reformatories, 297 
Regiments, Civil War, 214 
Renville County, 278 
Renville, Joseph, 136 
"Renville Rangers," 224 
Reservation, Chippewa, 20; 

Leach Lake, 283; Lower 

Sioux, 77; White Earth, 20 
Reservation Indians, 220 
Rhodes, Henry C, 242 
Rice, Edmund, 249 
Rice, Henry M., no, 139, 

141, 147, 151, 184 
Ridgely, see Fort 
Riggs, Rev. S. R., 73 
Ripley, see Fort 
River commerce, 236 
Rivers of Minnesota, 3 
Roads, 146, 195, 337; first in 

Minnesota, 127; logging, 

175, 176; military, 246, 319; 

U. S., 246; wagon, 138, 242 
Robert, Louis, 150 
Robertson brothers, 345 '■ 
Robin, Legend of, 37 
Rochester, 278 
Rolette, Joe, 163, 181, 185, 

236 
Rondo, Joseph, 143 
Roseau, 54 
Rum River, 130, 169 



St. Anthony, 146, 148, 150, 

151, 157, 159. 171, 178 
St. Anthony Falls, 91, 263 
St. Anthony, Fort, 130 
St. Cloud, 279, 297, 307, 311 
St. Croix Falls, I163, 164, 

165 



370 



Index 



St. Croix River, 60, 93, 162, 

241 ; logging on, 139 
St. Joseph's Academy, no 
St. Joseph's Hospital, no 
St. Lawrence River, 79, 261 
St. Louis, 116 

St. Louis River, 61, loi, 273 
St. Paul, 65, 76, 77, 95, 116, 
134, 150, 152, 156, 181, 
183, 188, 197, 210, 223, 
242, 288, 316, 319, 321, 
323, 335» 351 ; beginning of, 
143, 145, 153; landing, 145 
St. Peter, 148, 181, 197, 240 
St. Peter River, 94 
Sac Indians, 84 
Sanborn, John B., 213, 321 
Sandstone, 280, 307 
Sandy Lake, 124, 264 
Sauk Center, 297 
Sauk Indians, 54 
Sauk Rapids, 181, 307 
Saw-mills, 130, 166, 170, 179 
Scalp dance, 18 
Scarlet Dove, 51 
School, fund, 286; lands, 285; 

laws, 287; lunches, 289 
Schools, 147, 148, 287-297; 
agricultural, 293; consoli- 
dated, 289; first, 103, 288; 
Indian, 106, 107; mission, 
104; normal, 292; State: 
for blind, 290; crippled, 
292; deaf, 290; indigent, 
296; reform, 297; State 
training, 296; U. S. Govt., 
289 
Schulenberg, Frederick, 167 
Scott, Gen. Winfield, 131 
Seabury, Channing, 353 
Seal of Minnesota, 189 
Selkirk, Earl of, 142, 192 



"Selkirk Settlement," 192 
Selkirk settlers, 142, 274 
Settlements in Minnesota, 

early, 57, 242; French, 80- 

102 
Settlers, early, 135-148, 316, 

332; west of Mississippi, 

158 
Shadow Falls, 53 
Shakopee, 30, 52, 251 
Sheehan, Timothy J., 224, 227 
Sherburne, 307 
Sherman, William T., 134, 

213; "March to the Sea," 

214 
Shetek, 320 
Shields, James, 321 
Shiloh, Battle of, 208 
Shrubs in Minnesota, 7 
Sibley, Henry Hastings, 98, 

117,135,^139,144.150-153, 

185, 228, 232, 318 
Sibley House, 317-319 
Sioux Indians, 11-19; bap- 
tized, 83; battles with 
Ojibways, 77, 319, 341; 
driven from Minneapolis, 
230; massacre, 188, 218- 
232, 320; names, 54; out- 
break, 188; reservation, 
341; Upper and Lower 
Bands, 70 
Sissetons, 70 
Sitting-in-a-row, 69 
Sky-ey Water, i 
Slashings, timber, 179, 180 
Slate in Minnesota, 310 
Slavery, 204, 206 
Smelter, Duluth, 306 
Snelling, Fort, see Fort 
Snelling, Josiah, 130, 132, 
142, 163 



Index 



371 



Soldiers* Home, 298 
"Soldiers' Lodge," 222 
Soto, Hernando de, 259 
South Bend, 225 
Spanish land claims, 58 
Spanish- American War, 216 
"Spirit iron," 90 
Spirit Lake, 218 
Springfield, 218 
Squatters, 142, 143, 150 
Squaw, work of, 80 
Stage, early companies, 242, 

243, 247; routes, 247 
Stanchfield, Daniel, 168 
Staples, Isaac, 167, 168 
Star Family, Legend of, 39 
State House, 80, 216, 217, 

320, 351, 352 
State of Minnesota, admitted, 
186; capital, 181, 352; 
Capitol, see State House; 
constitution, 184.; fair, 
202; first election, 185 
fish hatcheries, 347; flag, 
348; flower, 351; Forester, 
342; mines, 305; motto, 
190; officers, 185; organ- 
ized, 184; parks, 338-341; 
schools, see Schools; seal, 
180 
Steam bath, Indian, 90 
Steamboats, 237-240, 273; 

first on St. Croix, 165 
Steele County, 141 
Steele, Franklin, 132, 139, 

140, 146, 163, 164, 168 
Stevens, John, 104, 137, 155, 

158, 319 
Stillwater, 138, 146, 150, 151, 

154, 166, 168, 297, 313 
Stock raising, 337 
Stone, George C, 303 



Stones, building, 306-311 
Stores, fur companies, 120 
Sugar Point War, 283 
Summer Maker, Legend of, 

43 
Sumner, Charles, 134, 314 
Sunday School, first, 102 
Superior, Lake, see Lakes 
Survey, U. S. Land, 173 
Swamper Caribou, 34 
Swan Lake, 225 
Swedes, 333 
Swiss settlers, 142, 193, 274 



Ta-kap-si-ka-pi, 16 
Taku- Waken, 31 
Taliaferro, Lawrence, 116, 

257 
Taxes, 337 

Taylor, Zachary, 132; Presi- 
dent, 152 
Taylor's Falls, 138, 163, 339 
Temperance River, 273 
Tepees, Indian, 13, 55 
Territory, Minnesota, 60, 61, 
153-155; organization of, 
151, 152; population, 156 
Territory, Northwest, 59, 60 
Territory, Wisconsin, 60 
Thompson, David, 266 
Thomsonites, 310 
Threshing-machines, 195 
Thunder Bird, 32, 71, 309 
Thunder tracks, 33 
Timber cutting, 176 
Tofti, 273 
Torinus, Louis, 167 
Tornadoes, 277 
Tower, 303 
Tower, Charlemagne, 303 



372 



Index 



Towns, growth of, 240 

Townships, 173 

Trade, 336; fur, 112, 113, 126; 

on Lake Superior, 255 
Traders, Enghsh, 96, 128; fur, 

234; licensed, 254 
Trails, 79, 234 
Transportation, 233-256 
Trapper, 113 
Traverse, Lake, see Lakes 
Traverse des Sioux, 70, 106, 

124, 237, 240, 245, 312 
Treaties, Indian, 63-78 
Treaty, Indian (of 1837), 

143; (of 1851), 239, 312; 

(of 1858), 219; pine lands, 

170 
Treaty of Ghent (18 14), 62; 

of Paris (1763), 58; of 

Paris (1783), 59; Pike's, 

128 
Trees of Minnesota, 6, 161, 

162, 342, 343 
Tuberculosis, Anti-, Camp, 

296 
Tullibees, 20 
Turtle Lake, 266 
Two Harbors, 303, 305 

U 

University of Minnesota, 96, 

141, 293, 294 
University Song, 331 
Upper Agency, Sioux, 222 
Upper Landing, in 
Upper Sioux, 217, 221 
Upper Sioux Reservation, 73 
U. S., flag, 254; lands, 173 



Van Cleve, Charlotte Ouis- 



consm, 102, 129, 322 
Van Cleve, Horatio, 212, 322 
Vermilion Lake, 302 
Vermilion Range, 180 
Vicksburg, 213 
Vincent, George E., 295 
Volunteers, Minnesota, in 

Civil War, 207-211, 214; 

Spanish-American War, 

282-284 
"Voyageur, The," 125 
Voyageurs, 119, 234 

W 

Wabasha, 53, 129, 230 

Wahkeenyan, 32 

Wahpetons, 70 

Wakan, 309 

Walker, Orange, 166, 313 

Wampum, 14 

Wanotah, 15 

War, Civil, 187, 207-217; De- 
partment, 246; flags, 216; 
French and Indian, 57; 
Governor, 188; of 1812, 
62, 127; Revolutionary, 57; 
Spanish-American, 282- 
284; imiforms, 209 

Washburn mill, 277 

Washington, City of, 210 

Washington, George, 57, 264 

Washington monument, 309 

Watab River, 53 

Water Lily, Legend of, 35 

Water power, 197 

Waterways, 234 

Weyerhaeuser interests, 179 

"Whalebacks,"255 

Wheat, 141, 193-199 

Wheelock, Joseph A., 321 

Whipple, Henry B., 322 



Index 



373 



Whitefish, 20, 85, 346 
White child, first, at Fort 
Snelling, 129; in Minnesota 

Wild birds, 344 
Wild rice, 260 
Wilkin, Alexander, 341 
Williamson, Rev. Thomas S., 

75, 104, 105, 136 
Willow River, 180 
Winchell, N. H., 48 
Wind-mills, 197, 313 
Winona, 49, 82 y 96, 179, 249 
Winston, 178, 302 
Wisconsin, State of, 151; 

Territory, 60 



Wolves, 172 

Wood Lake, 213, 229 

Woodsman, pioneer, 171 



Yellow Head, 269 

Yellow Medicine Agency, 221, 

239; reservation, 73, 106, 

217 



Zenith City, 189 
Zumbro, 55 
Zumbrota, 55 



